Prabowo Mandates Stronger Surveillance in Coastal, Border Regions - Tempo.co English
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Prabowo Subianto has mandated Djaka Budhi Utama, Director General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance, to tighten customs and excise supervision in Indonesia's border and coastal regions.
The order was issued when the Director General of Customs and Excise met with President Prabowo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday.
"I was summoned and told to tighten border and coastal areas from the smuggling of illegal and illicit goods," said the Director General of Customs and Excise when asked about the meeting with President Prabowo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Djaka Budhi, the supervision is aimed at illegal export and import practices, as well as the smuggling of illicit goods such as narcotics and used clothes.
Regarding this, Djaka explained that Customs' strategy includes adding equipment to support supervision and strengthening the work of task forces within Customs and Excise.
When asked about regions vulnerable to smuggling, Djaka cites the Malacca Strait, which borders Indonesia with Singapore and Malaysia, as a particular focus.
"Yes, we have operational bases along the Malacca Strait, comprising nearly a hundred or so ships. We will utilize all of them. But it all depends on the available budget. We were given an additional budget yesterday during a meeting at the House of Representatives' Budget Committee," said Djaka Budhi.
The meeting between President Prabowo and the Director General of Customs and Excise took place separately from the meeting between the President and Minister of Finance Suahasil Nazara, which took place at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.
During the meeting with Minister Suahasil, President Prabowo received a report on the current economic situation, the management of the state budget, and the repayment of the government's BLBI bonds, which were issued to address the 1997-1998 financial crisis.
