There Are Customs And Excise Officers Crowding Passenger Luggage, Sri Mulyani Admits That Needs Improvement

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Finance)

JAKARTA Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Sri Mulyani realizes that the performance of the ranks of the Directorate General of Customs and Excise which she leads is far from perfect. She admits that there are many things that need to be improved in order to ensure that the target and service tasks can be achieved optimally.

He conveyed this when he fulfilled the invitation of Commission XI of the DPR regarding the evaluation of bureaucratic reform at the Ministry of Finance today.

"We also realize that friends at Customs and Excise need to continue to improve in terms of services that must be based on risk management, don't let everyone get their belongings dredged so that they make the owner of the goods angry," he said at the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta on Monday, March 27.

The Minister of Finance explained that the Customs and Excise apparatus worked continuously for 24 hours in line with the mandate given.

"It's a task that is not light but we know that it must continue to serve," he said.

Furthermore, the Minister of Finance revealed that the imposition of levies on luggage of 500 US dollars from abroad has taken into account various related aspects.

"We have conducted a study of all countries in the world to get how the best practice is," he said.

Previously, there was news that said Alissa Wahid, the son of former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), received unfair treatment from Customs officers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport.

At that time he was directed to a special room and received tendentious questions from officers. Not only that, Alissa was also asked to open the suitcase that was brought for inspection by officers.

After the interrogation process was completed, Alissa was allowed to go through with the previous cleaning up the suitcase that had been dredged up by the officers.

For this incident, the Ministry of Finance through Spokesperson Yustinus Prastowo apologized.

"We acknowledge and apologize for the inconvenience that has occurred. We are committed to continuing to improve services," said Yustinus.