What Are You Waiting For? Immediately Reveal Cooking Oil Cartel Perpetrators!

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission VI of the House of Representatives Martin Manurung asked the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) to quickly resolve and reveal allegations of the existence of a cooking oil cartel in Indonesia.

"We encourage the KPPU to be more firm and fast in carrying out its functions, especially regarding the existence of this cartel," he said in an official statement, Friday, April 1.

As is known, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) previously revealed the finding of additional evidence related to the alleged cooking oil cartel which allegedly dragged 8 big business actors. The finding of one additional piece of evidence before it is decided that there is sufficient evidence to be brought to the examination stage by the Commission Council Session.

On the finding of the additional evidence, Martin urges the KPPU to move faster to complete the evidence that has been obtained. If the evidence is complete, then, it can enter the trial and prosecution.

"They have already announced in the media that there is an allegation of a cooking oil cartel. So that is what we ask to be taken seriously, as well as to complete the alleged mafia disclosed by the government (Kemendag)," he said.

Furthermore, Martin hopes that the investigation into the alleged cooking oil cartel will improve the business world, especially in cooking oil production.

"We hope that business competition will improve in the cooking oil commodity, so that in the future the management and distribution of cooking oil will be even better," said Martin.

As previously reported, the existence of cartels in the cooking oil trade system has been increasingly detected. The Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has just found one piece of evidence in the alleged investment in the cooking oil cartel. Now, KPPU is targeting eight big companies in the cooking oil cartel case.

KPPU's Director of Investigation, Gopprera Panggabean, said that the eight large companies controlled 70 percent of the cooking oil in the market.

"We will explore 8 large groups of business actors who dominate the market share. Because the small ones can only be price followers (following the price)," Gopprera said in a press conference, quoted on Wednesday, March 30.

Unfortunately, Gopprera did not specify the eight companies involved in the cooking oil cartel. He only said that KPPU was trying to find additional evidence such as economic and behavioral evidence.

"Because the confession is very difficult to obtain. When the evidence has been collected, the conclusion will be seen, whether it supports it or not," he explained.