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mid a series of alcohol-poisoning cases that has taken dozens of lives in Yogyakarta over the past week, the government is facing mounting pressure to apply stricter supervisions to the production and distribution of oplosan (bootleg liquor) to prevent another deadly incident from occuring.

The pressure emerged after Yogyakarta law enforcers said on Monday that 26 people, most of them university students, had died since last Wednesday after consuming oplosan at separate venues in the province.

Dozens of others, meanwhile, are in a serious condition in hospital after having had the drink.

Yogyakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) Deputy Speaker Arief Noor Hartanto on Monday urged the government to immediately crack down on vendors of oplosan, arguing that the uncontrolled production and sale of the product had contributed significantly to the increase in alcohol-related deaths.

'€œThe government and the police must take firm action against [oplosan] vendors, who are the root of the problem, to avoid more casualties,'€ he said.

The police arrested a couple from Depok district who allegedly produced and sold the oplosan consumed by some of the victims.

'€œWe have seized a number of substances from the couple'€™s house and are currently trying to identify them. One of them is fermented snake fruit,'€ Sleman Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Yulianto said, adding that the vendor also had allegedly mixed the oplosan with other substances, including mosquito repellent.

According to a preliminary investigation, Yulianto said the victims had not bought oplosan from a single vendor.

Although the police have revealed the identity of the victims, most between 19 and 28 years old, they remained tight-lipped on where the victims had studied or worked. Reporters have also been denied access to survivors in hospital.

Yulianto, however, confirmed that nine Papuan students were among the deceased and 19 others were undergoing treatment in local hospitals.

Lawyer Edo Gobay, representing the hospitalized Papuan students, claimed that his clients had consumed alcoholic beverages earlier this month in two separate groups: one at a boarding house in Condongcatur subdistrict, Sleman, and the other on their way to the Bukit Bintang resort area in Gunungkidul regency.

Edo said his clients had immediately felt sick after drinking a mixture of beer, kolesom (ginseng) wine and oplosan made from local alcoholic spirits arak and ciu.

'€œWe have asked the Yogyakarta Police to arrest local oplosan vendors as they are selling substances that can become poisonous when mixed together with other alcoholic beverages,'€ he said.

Oplosan has gained popularity in Indonesia as it is much cheaper than any branded liquor product. A bottle of oplosan, which contains 300 milliliters of liquor, for example, is sold for between Rp 15,000 (US$1) and Rp 20,000 in Yogyakarta, home to some 120,000 university students.

Oplosan makers usually run a small-scale operation, allowing only regular customers access to the product. The police have claimed that this secluded, customer-based operation made it difficult for them to crack down on the distribution of the illegal product.

Hundreds of people die every year across the archipelago due to oplosan consumption.

The West Java Police, for example, revealed that more than 80 people had died throughout 2015 after consuming oplosan. Most of the victims were under the age of 20.

Last year, all 10 party factions at the House of Representatives agreed to continue deliberating on the alcohol prohibition bill. Lawmakers who support the bill have argued the country requires
a stronger legal basis for its control of the production and consumption of illicit alcohol.

Supraja, a sociologist from Gadjah Mada University, said the government had to provide clear regulations that detailed which kinds of alcoholic beverages were allowed to be produced and distributed.

'€œSuch rules will allow law enforcers to take strict measures against oplosan makers and anyone who does not comply,'€ he said.
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