Eks Demands RI Tuding President and Singapore PM Slice to Militia

RI's former Minister of Commerce Muhammad Lutfi raised a sharp criticism of Singapore's leaders related to forest and land fires.

He appealed to Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and Minister of Law K. Shanmugam being soft towards the conglomerate who is suspected to be a carhutla mastermind in Indonesia.

On Tuesday (20 / 10), Lutfi questioned the inequality of law enforcement in the neighboring country.

"Why is the law in Singapore so cruel and merciless to ordinary Singapore citizens who have nothing, but are so soft and so protective of the billionaires who have the listings, headquarter status, and family office in Singapore?" asked Lutfi.

Lutfi highlighted the existence of parent companies in Singapore that have controlled the land concessions in Indonesia since 2014.

Even though the companies invested up to hundreds of millions of dollars in Singapore, they have never once been charged with criminal use Singapore's Cross-Smoke Act.

He revealed a plot of palm tycoon who borrowed billions of rupees from Indonesian banking because the bank in Singapore refused to risk the loan.

However, after plantations in Indonesia operated and profited, they set up a holding company in Singapore to stand on the stock market and enjoy much cheaper tax rates.

The huge advantage of the practice was then played and invested in a family office in Singapore that tipped off a minimum of 20 million dollars.

"It's like having a house, eating, and drinking in Singapore, but taking out great waste and water in Indonesia," said Lutfi.

The Singapore Government's recent steps sent a warning letter to seven companies in Indonesia about carhutla, Lutfi urging more direct and firm legal action.

"Why don't they ever get sued? Don't just write letters, don't just send warnings to Jakarta, search their offices in Singapore, using Singapore law," said Lutfi.

Lutfi insinuated that Singapore would not just be a financial center that would raise billions of dollars in profit, but hide and blame Indonesia when the smoke hit.

"Now we'll see what Singapore is made of. If they were soft on the rich, the typhers would be safe, but if their laws are really fair, prove it now," You tell Lutfi.