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Yogyakarta moonshine traders have powerful friends
Jakarta Post - February 13, 2016
Earlier this month, 26 people, most of them university students, died after consuming oplosan at a variety of venues in the province. Dozens of others, meanwhile, are in a serious condition in hospital after drinking the substance.
Despite the high death toll, local authorities seem to be reluctant to take initiatives to eradicate the root of the problem: the oplosan producers and vendors.
Although the police, as of Friday, had arrested five suspects for allegedly making or selling the oplosan that killed the young people, there has so far been no attempt by local authorities to seize oplosan products in local markets to prevent another deadly incident from happening.
Yogyakarta Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) member Eko Suwanto lambasted on Friday the slow progress made by the Yogyakarta Police and the province's Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) in cracking down on oplosan sales in the region.
He also said he suspected that many oplosan makers and vendors were receiving protection from local security personnel and mass organizations in running their illegal activities. "Both the police and Satpol PP exercise the state's authority. They must not bow down to any power behind the vendors," Eko said.
Many residents of Yogyakarta – considered to have a relatively low cost of living – prefer oplosan to beer or branded liquor because of the price disparity and greater alcohol content.
A 300-milliliter bottle of oplosan with an alcohol content of around 40 percent is sold for around Rp 30,000 (US$2.23), while a 330-ml can of locally produced beer with an alcohol content of 4.7 percent costs around Rp 18,000.
Regular oplosan consumers in Yogyakarta, meanwhile, said it was easy to purchase the illicit alcohol in the province. "Oplosan sellers are available in various places in the region," said Arcie, a university student who regularly drinks and trades oplosan.
Separately, Yogyakarta Police spokesperson Comr. Sri Sumarsih urged local residents to report to the police should they find any indication of any group assisting the oplosan trade. She added that if there was support from state institutions, the Yogyakarta Police would coordinate to resolve the matter.
"If the support is being provided by the police, just file a report to the police internal affairs division. We will follow up on it and definitely impose sanctions on the culprits," she said.
Traditional fermented-drink researcher Raymond Micheal Menot, however, said oplosan was not the correct term to refer to the alcoholic drink that had caused the deaths.
The term oplosan, or mix in the Javanese language, refers to drinks, such as cocktails, which are mixed by an expert who is familiar with the alcohol content. "A drink that kills people should not be called oplosan because it's a blend of alcohol and mosquito lotion, or battery fluid and headache pills," he said.
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