Waste Meat Confiscated

Jakarta, Kompas – Darmo bin Sapawiro (40), trader of waste meat from hotels and restaurants, was arrested by the police on Thursday (11/9) night in a raid conducted by the Municipal Government of West Jakarta. Darmo refused to reveal the network of suppliers for waste meat sold to markets and small food stalls (warung). Chief of Drug Unit of West Jakarta Police, Police Commissioner Adex Yudiswan explained that they are still tracking down the trader and supplier network of the waste meat. “We have secured the evidences, two packages of chicken meat, one package of fried fish meat, and one package of textile coloring agent used to color the recycled waste meat,” said Adex, Friday (12/9).

At the West Jakarta police office a number of large drums, stoves, and cooking appliances have been confiscated from the house of Darmo at Jalan Peternakan Raya I RT 04 RW 07, Kapuk administrative village, Cengkareng, West Jakarta.
Darmo, who is still under custody, would not reveal who supplied the waste meat to him. “I only recycled it. There are buyers who come to take it and re-sell it to small warungs,” said Darmo.
Every day he receives 50-100 kilograms of chicken, fish, and beef meat packed in sacks that are waste from hotels and restaurants.
Washed with formalin
The waste meat is then cleaned, washed with formalin, colored with textile coloring agents, and then fried. The end product is then sold in various forms, such as soup, empal meat, and beef meatballs. The practice has been going on for several years.
Adex Yudiswan said that Darmo will be prosecuted with Article 80 A4 of the Health Law No. 23 Year 1992 with maximum punishment of 15 years in prison and or a fine of 300 million rupiahs. “Darmo is considered to have distributed hazardous and under standard food,” said Alex.
The Livestock and Fishery Service Sub-Office of West Jakarta said that distribution of the recycled waste meat has been known to reach Cengkareng sub-district, including Pasar Pos Duri Kecamatan Tambora, Darurat Kapuk, Timbul, Alam, and Cengkareng.
Meanwhile, on Friday morning (12/9), the Livestock and Fishery Service Sub-Office of Central Jakarta has spread numerous officers to traditional markets in search for any distribution of gelonggongan meat (meat from an animal that was forced to drink large amounts of water before slaughter) and dead chickens. Monitoring was done at Pasar Karanganyar and Pasar Baru (Sawahbesar subdistrict) and Pasar Tomas (Gambir), but none of the meat searched above was found. (ONG/PIN)
Source: Kompas