Case Of 3.4 Tons Of Rice Buried In Depok: Not Yet Completed, Why Was It Even Closed?

JAKARTA - The discovery of a pile of 3.4 tons of social assistance rice buried 3 meters deep in the ground in the KSU Field area, Sukmajaya, Depok City on Friday (29/7) still leaves a question mark. The current situation is even more chaotic because the parties involved have different opinions.

From the results of the police investigation, JNE as the land user admitted that he deliberately buried the social assistance rice because its condition was not suitable for eating or was damaged. The damage occurred during the collection process from the Bulog warehouse for distribution to the public.

JNE has also fulfilled its responsibility by replacing all damaged rice.

As stated by the Head of Public Relations of the Metro Jaya Police, Grand Commissioner Endra Zulpan on Monday (1/8) after asking for information from JNE, represented by Samsul Jamaludin. "Rice has been replaced by JNE with other equivalent packages."

In this case, said Zulpan, JNE was only a courier who received a contract from PT DNR as a vendor in charge of distributing social assistance rice to residents according to a list from the government in 2020.

However, PT Dos Ni Roha (DNR) denied this.

"It is true that PT DNR is one of the vendors of basic social assistance for people affected by COVID-19. However, this is only for the September-October 2020 period and this will run without cooperation with JNE Express," said PT DNR's Head of Corporate Communication, Ida Widayani in a statement, Wednesday (3/8).

As for the damage to goods that were buried in the ground, PT DNR did not know and was not involved. In fact, Ida suspects that the buried basic social assistance food items are the result of the procurement of goods in the Presidential Social Assistance program in the May-June 2020 period.

"While PT DNR is trusted by the Ministry of Social Affairs to distribute rice assistance to 15 provinces in September and October 2020," continued Ida.

The results of another initial examination, the Police said that the Ministry of Social Affairs only cooperated with Bulog in distributing social assistance rice from the government.

"Regarding the cooperation between PT DNR as a vendor with JNE. The Ministry of Social Affairs doesn't know it," said Zulpan after asking for information from the Ministry of Social Affairs, represented by the Director of Social Disaster Victim Protection at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Mira Riyanti.

Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini also emphasized this in a press conference at the Ministry of Social Affairs Office, Central Jakarta, Tuesday (2/8/2022).

"Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Mr. Muhadjir Effendy said that when the rice aid was delivered it was carried out by Bulog. So, it rained on the way to send the aid," said Risma.

The President Director of Perum Bulog, Budi Waseso, also confirmed that Bulog had appointed PT DNR and PT Pos Indonesia as transporters. If the two companies then subcontract with JNE again for the delivery of aid, it will not be a problem.

"Want to be carried out by Gojek or JNE, that's fine. The important thing is to reach the target," said Budi Waseso, quoted from Kompas.com, Tuesday (2/8).

On the same day, the Corporate Secretary of Perum Bulog, Awaludin Iqbal admitted that the rice found in the soil was part of the Presidential Social Assistance program for the May-June 2020 period for 3 million people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the process, said Iqbal, Bulog cooperates with other parties so that delivery can be faster. Indeed, at that time there was an obstacle in the delivery process by the transporter which resulted in damaged rice.

Then, a third party immediately contacted Bulog to buy replacement rice. “So a third party has replaced it with good quality rice and it has been well received by all beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the damaged rice is the responsibility of a third party, and is no longer the responsibility of Bulog," said Iqbal in his statement, Tuesday (2/8).

However, Iqbal did not provide details regarding the transporter who made the shipment during that period. Iqbal only mentioned PT SSI.

The case of finding rice in the soil was initially handled by Depok Metro Police investigators, but since Tuesday (2/8) the investigation file has been transferred to the Metro Jaya Police. The handling is led by the Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation (Dirkrimsus) Metro Jaya Police.

Not Social Assistance Rice

From the results of field verification on Monday (1/8) and matching data on the Ministry of Social assistance program, Inspector General of the Ministry of Social Affairs Dadang Iskandar suspected that the hoard of social assistance rice found in Depok did not necessarily belong to the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Because, in the field verification, it is not only rice, it is suspected that there are other basic necessities because there is a smell of rotten eggs. Moreover, the 5 kilogram and 20 kilogram rice sacks found did not match the social assistance rice bag with a sticker labeled "Presidential Assistance through the Ministry of Social Affairs", which was requested by the Minister of Social Affairs Juliari Batubara in 2020.

“During field checks, no sacks of rice were found that were labeled or read 'Presidential Assistance through the Ministry of Social Affairs'. "Incidentally, I still have the documentation. This is 2020, at that time we carried out evaluation monitoring," explained Dadang during a press conference at the Ministry of Social Affairs Office, Salemba, Central Jakarta, Tuesday (2/8).

On Wednesday (3/8), JNE's Attorney Anthony Djono also said the rice in the land was not social assistance rice but JNE's rice.

"Why buried? Because the rice has been damaged," Anthony told reporters at the location, Wednesday (3/8).

He did not deny that the rice was originally for social assistance which was taken from the Bulog warehouse. However, on the way there was damage. "When it is damaged, we move it to the warehouse, we replace it again," he added.

Same thing with Hotman Paris Hutapea's statement in a press conference, Thursday (4/8). Hotman, who was appointed as JNE's lawyer, said the rice received by JNE to be distributed to the public weighed 6,199 tons.

However, in May 2020, 3.4 tons of rice were damaged during the distribution process.

"This damaged rice is stored again in the JNE warehouse. Then, the rice is getting worse and worse. Finally, an initiative is sought, this rice is thrown away. Coincidentally, there is land that the guards agreed, in November 2021 it will be buried," said Hotman.

Hotman added that his client would also consider reporting back to Rudi Samin on accusations of slander against JNE.

“Rudi Samin accused JNE of hoarding social assistance rice. In fact, JNE has never hoarded social assistance rice. Lying dong, slandering people the goal is only to fight for their land. JNE has become a victim of slander. JNE has never hoarded rice," said Hotman.

The Dirkrimsus Metro Jaya Police claimed to have found no criminal element behind the discovery of the social assistance rice. The buried rice is really in a damaged state. JNE as the distributor has also replaced it.

“There is documentary evidence. That's why we say no criminal element was found. We will stop the case," said Head of the Dirkrimsus Metro Jaya Police Grand Commissioner Pol Auliansyah Lubis, Thursday (4/8).

The Head of Public Relations of the Metro Jaya Police, Grand Commissioner Endra Zulpan also stated in a press conference at the Metro Jaya Police Headquarters, Thursday (4/8).

"I underline, so it's not hoarding. So, there is rice planted which was found by the community and then it became news and went viral," said Zulpan.