Despite recent cases of alcohol poisoning and the death of an Australian tourist after consuming locally produced arak (palm wine) on the neighboring island of Lombok, the provincial administration is continuing to allow production of the beverage, stressing that the manufacturing process would be closely monitored and that the arak produced in Bali was safe for consumption. In addition to the large-scale producers of this alcoholic beverage, Bali has thousands of local residents producing arak as a form of home industry.
As of March, Bali’s Trade and Industry Agency had recorded the existence of 1,037 arak producers, all based in Karangasem regency. These home industries are licensed by the Karangasem administration. The agency estimated that the local palm wine producers made the beverage the traditional way, using traditional equipment. As such, they would only be producing on average some 6 to 7 liters of arak every three days. Only a few of them would be able to produce up to 20 liters every three days.
Head of the agro-industry division at the Bali Trade and Industry Agency, I Ketut Darta, said that the central government had issued a regulation on negative investment for several products in Indonesia, which included alcoholic beverages. The marketing of such products should adhere to regional regulation No. 71/2012 on alcoholic beverage production and distribution.
“The regulation stipulates that the local arak can only be distributed within the regency where it is being produced, unless the company has obtained a distribution license from the relevant agencies, including the Health Agency and the Food and Drug Monitoring Board [BPOM],” said Darta, acknowledging that the distribution of local arak was considered legal. Darta pointed out that most of the homemade arak was sold to larger companies that would then package and label it before distributing it to the market.
Darta also acknowledged that the homemade arak usually contained a high level of alcohol, up to 40 percent. Previously, arak was mostly used for religious ceremonial purposes, while a dose of the beverage was regarded as medicinal to treat rheumatism and asthma. “However, what happens today is that many people consume arak to get high and drunk. The consumers themselves add other things to the arak to increase the effect. I believe, none of the producers has ever done the mixing themselves,” said Darta.
Head of Bali Tourism Agency, Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu, said that along with the implementation of the regulation, the provincial administration had also formed a special team led by the public order police, locally known as Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja (Satpol PP). “They routinely perform raids on unlicensed premises, in order to prevent there being any more victims in Bali, be they locals or foreigners,” said Subhiksu.
Recently, Bali was in the international headlines after the death of a 19-year-old Australian, Liam Davies, who drank a mixture of palm wine and methanol during a vacation in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, a neighboring province to Bali. In 2009, Bali recorded incidents of fatal alcohol poisoning that took the lives of five people, all of whom were diagnosed as suffering from blood poisoning, after consuming the so-called arak oplosan, which can be mixed with various ingredients, including liquid alcohol, traditional spices, fuel oil, methanol and detergent.
Any surviving victim could face other consequences of alcohol poisoning: blindness, kidney failure and hepatitis. Subhiksu said that the provincial administration continued to urge operators of hotels, restaurants and bars, as well as liquor vendors, to avoid selling alcohol without clear labels or licenses from the Health Agency and BPOM.
source : bali daily
Darta also acknowledged that the homemade arak usually contained a high level of alcohol, up to 40 percent. Previously, arak was mostly used for religious ceremonial purposes, while a dose of the beverage was regarded as medicinal to treat rheumatism and asthma. “However, what happens today is that many people consume arak to get high and drunk. The consumers themselves add other things to the arak to increase the effect. I believe, none of the producers has ever done the mixing themselves,” said Darta.
Head of Bali Tourism Agency, Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu, said that along with the implementation of the regulation, the provincial administration had also formed a special team led by the public order police, locally known as Satuan Polisi Pamong Praja (Satpol PP). “They routinely perform raids on unlicensed premises, in order to prevent there being any more victims in Bali, be they locals or foreigners,” said Subhiksu.
Recently, Bali was in the international headlines after the death of a 19-year-old Australian, Liam Davies, who drank a mixture of palm wine and methanol during a vacation in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, a neighboring province to Bali. In 2009, Bali recorded incidents of fatal alcohol poisoning that took the lives of five people, all of whom were diagnosed as suffering from blood poisoning, after consuming the so-called arak oplosan, which can be mixed with various ingredients, including liquid alcohol, traditional spices, fuel oil, methanol and detergent.
Any surviving victim could face other consequences of alcohol poisoning: blindness, kidney failure and hepatitis. Subhiksu said that the provincial administration continued to urge operators of hotels, restaurants and bars, as well as liquor vendors, to avoid selling alcohol without clear labels or licenses from the Health Agency and BPOM.
source : bali daily
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