Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – The economic crunch in Indonesia is spurring a new deadly handicraft in its eastern islands: bomb-making. Police believe that homemade explosives from south-east Sulawesi are being sold to the neighbouring strife-torn areas of Maluku and Poso.

A one-star police general said that several suspects had already been arrested in recent weeks for manufacturing bombs in the remote Wangiwangi district. "There are indications that they are fuelling the conflicts in some of these trouble spots," he told The Straits Times.

Tempo magazine reported recently that residents in the area – predominantly fishermen – had been making these explosives for decades, unhindered by the police. They were used to catch fish illegally.

Now conflicts in nearby provinces have created new markets for these products. The report said Wangiwangi was a base for smuggling in urea-based fertiliser, used in making bombs, as well as detonators and fuses from as far away as Taiwan and Malaysia. The trade has brought a huge bounty to an area ravaged by the financial crisis.

Wangiwangi residents make a living from farming corn, tubers and vegetables, but these do not bring in much revenue. They make at most 700,000 rupiah (S$140) every month.In contrast, bomb-making and the distribution of bomb parts rake in millions of rupiah.

Tempo noted that a 50-kg sack of urea-based fertiliser bought in Tawau, Malaysia, costs 80,000 rupiah. But smuggled into Wangiwangi, it can be sold for as much as 400,000 rupiah. In Poso and Ambon, the price can be several times more. The price for a bomb itself can range from 250,000 rupiah to 500,000 rupiah, depending on whether detonators are fitted.

Making the bomb is easy. Urea fertiliser is first mixed with kerosene and then dried in the sun. It is then put into soft-drink bottles sprinkled with sulphur. Some bomb makers use milk cans for the explosives. The bombs are in high demand because they are cheap, yet highly explosive. Tempo quoted a senior Sulawesi police official, Mr Andi Ahmad Abdi, as saying that in one incident, the body of a victim from a bomb explosion was ripped apart. His hand landed 15 m away from the blast.

Provincial officials seem helpless to stop the growing trade. Observers say bomb-making has the backing of police and military elements, who want the sectarian and religious violence to fester in the far-flung regions. But police sources in Jakarta brush aside such allegations, saying several suspects have been arrested, with more to follow.

There are also fears that such bombs could be made available to Java and other parts of the archipelago. Police have already found them in East Java. There is also growing concern that they might eventually reach terrorists who have already wrecked havoc in Jakarta with bombings over the last year. A senior police officer noted: "This is a serious matter ... Why make it easier for foreign terrorist groups by making available to them ready-made bombs in the country?"