There Is No Political Interest Behind Garlic Imports

Garlic illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Agriculture has issued a recommendation to import horticultural products (RIPH) for garlic with a total volume of 103 thousand tons. A number of parties warned that publishing must be transparent.

The Minister of Agriculture, Syahrul Yasin Limpo, is considered to be right to give up his political interests in issuing RIPH considering that he comes from a political party. Discrimination in granting imports is reminded not to be carried out by the Minister of Agriculture.

Political observer from Pelita Harapan University, Emrus Sihombing said that transparency is absolute to show that the Minister of Agriculture Syahrul Yasin Limpo, who is a politician, is free from political interests.

This openness also minimizes discrimination and dismisses any accusations of systemizing certain importers with the large garlic import quota received through RIPH.

"The public needs to know the truth. Moreover, the matter of imports is not a state secret," Emrus said in a statement quoted on Sunday, February 16.

Emrus is of the view that, in fact, the economy cannot be separated from political interests. Hence, the Ministry of Agriculture needs to open the name of the company that has been appointed as an importer of garlic. "If you want to open it, including the names of commissioners in the company, who will the directors be," continued Emrus.

This transparency, he said, could actually support Minister Syharul to improve the procedures for determining RIPH and the distribution of import quotas. "The Minister of Agriculture is new, so there will be improvements in the Ministry of Agriculture itself so that there will be no further polemic in the future, like the previous one," he said.

The same thing was highlighted by the Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition of the Republic of Indonesia (KPPU). This commission emphasized that it will continue to encourage the government not to discriminate against garlic importers by prioritizing certain parties.

Those who have met the requirements should be given permission. There is no need for detentions and vice versa priority to certain parties.

"In other words, the realization of imports should not be held back because this is a regular requirement," said KPPU Commissioner Guntur Saragih.

KPPU has submitted suggestions and considerations to the government regarding the import of garlic which has led to a change in policy direction.

Former head of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Saut Sitomorang said, to assess the performance of the Minister of Agriculture in importing garlic can be seen with the naked eye. However, to sniff out conflicts of interest, Saut agrees that caution is needed. He said further audits were needed to investigate the imports currently being carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture.

"The performance audit can be assessed in plain view. One must be careful to assess it as a conflict of interest audit. Senses of intelligence need to be joined with other audits," he said.

Regarding the need for KPK assistance to supervise and suppress potential conflicts of interest between ministers and parties, Saut left it to the anti-corruption agency where he previously worked.

Director General of Horticulture, Ministry of Agriculture, Prihasto Setyanto, after a hearing with Commission IV DPR some time ago said that the RIPH for garlic had been decided and submitted to the Ministry of Trade.

Regarding the accusation that RIPH was not transparent, he denied it. Prihasto said that RIPH had been given openly. He also denied that there was a conflict of interest in the selection of importers.

However, he did not disclose the companies that were given RIPH with their respective quotas. "Who said less openly. No, just guesswork. Everything is open," he said.

Not a Sudden Decision

Secretary of the Directorate General of Horticulture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Liliek Srie Utami, said that the RIPH process for garlic had been submitted by importers since mid-November 2019. According to Liliek, the issuance of the 103 thousand tonnes of onions RIPH was also not a sudden decision.

He admitted that the issuance of RIPH was not sudden because there was a coordination meeting with the Ministry of Trade and the Presidential Staff Office on Thursday 6 February. "We have been processing (RIPH) since November 15, 2019, so it is not immediately issued," he said.

Meanwhile, for the list of importers who have quotas, as well as the amount, he admitted that he did not hold the data in detail.