Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Farmers and exporters in Lampung who had secured loans with coffee from Bank Tripanca are now demanding the return of their collateral after the bank's liquidation.

Bank Tripanca was owned by Sugiharto Wiharjo, also known as the "King of Coffee" in Lampung. Independent reporters had suggested that Sugiharto's ability to buy coffee created a dependency among large-scale farmers and exporters.

Bank Tripanca was also known to have been used as the main source of loans for the campaign funds of local political candidates.

Following the closure of Bank Tripanca in October 2008 and the detention of Sugiharto by police, a number of the bank's creditors seized the assets of both the bank and Sugiharto, including several warehouses storing thousands of tons of coffee.

Bank Mega promptly sealed several warehouses and brought a case against Bank Tripanca. The court later ruled Bank Mega was entitled to 25,939 tons of coffee stored in the warehouses. In June 2009, the Tanjungkarang District Court ruled in favor of another creditor, Bank BRI, and ordered the handover of 17,600 tons of coffee.

The courts ruled that the coffee belonged to Sugiharto, not the farmers or exporters.

The chairman of the youth section of the Indonesian Farmers Association in Lampung, Juanto Muhajirin, said Bank Mega had seized coffee placed in Tripanca's warehouses for storage, not as collateral for loans.

"We demand the PT Tripanca Group compensate us for our losses. We also urge them to return the commodities. As part of the seizure of Sugiharto's assets, 3,348 tons of coffee belonging to farmers was taken by Bank Mega. We demand this coffee be returned to the farmers," Juanto said.

"We demand the PT Tripanca Group compensate us for our losses. We also urge them to return the commodities," farmers' lawyer Bambang Hartono said previously.