The Jakarta Globe, January 7, 2014.
Surabaya. At least 16 people in Surabaya, East Java, have died and 10 more are in critical condition after drinking bootleg alcohol during the New Year celebration, police said on Monday.
“We are still unable to identify the total number of victims, but our temporary data shows that 16 people have died and 10 more are in critical condition,” deputy police chief of Mojokerto, Cmr. Nurhadi Santoso said.
Nurhadi said the victims drank the bootleg alcohol at different locations in Mojokerto but all admitted they drank it during New Year celebrations.
“The police became suspicious when we heard reports from hospitals that there were several victims who died because of home-brewed alcohol poisoning,” he said.
Many victims, he said, had been sick for days before they were rushed to area hospitals because the family did not suspect they were ill because of the dangerous alcohol. Some arrived at the hospital too late.
Based on the victims’ testimony the police arrested the individuals who produced the bootleg alcohol, Roni and his wife Nuraini, residents of Kedungsari village, Magersari.
The police also seized dozens of jerry cans of the tainted mixture.
“They claimed they obtained the alcohol from Solo, Central Java,” Nurhadi said.
Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said the distribution of illicit tainted alcohol has become rampant because of lax regulation.
“There are many bylaws stipulating the distribution of alcohol but those bylaws become void because they contradict with the higher regulation,” MUI’s secretary M. Yunus told Indonesia news portal Okezone.com.
“There should be a complete ban on alcohol. Right now we are only regulating the sales based on the content of the alcohol,” he said.
In September, 12 people in East Java died of methanol poisoning.
Sawahan Police Chief Comr. Manang Sawahan said his office had received a report that 12 people in Surabaya and Gresik had bought the bootleg alcohol. Police then raided a house on Jalan Kutai, Surabaya, and confiscated four boxes as well as one jerry can of alcohol.
Police also arrested a man named Budi, who produced the alcohol.
In August, 13 people died from drinking bootleg alcohol in Cempaka Putih, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.
Jakarta Police arrested the vendor, Rendy, who claimed he had been selling homemade alcohol for eight years and began selling a tainted mixture since July for Rp 10,000 (82 cents) per package because business had been patchy.
Police found seven jerry cans of the alcohol mixture, 30 bottles of red wine and 20 bottles of beras kencur , a local spice blend, when they arrested Rendy.
Anecdotal evidence has shown deaths from adulterated alcohol have become ubiquitous in Indonesia in recent years — although there is very little data available to support these claims.
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di 7 jan 2014 - 1:47