Firms enjoy subsidized fuel in Lampung: YLKI<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso H.N. and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Bandar Lampung\/Makassar<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) has accused around 200
\ncompanies in Lampung province of violating the government's fuel
\nsubsidy policy aimed at poor people.<\/p>\n
The companies allegedly bought kerosene and fuel diesel at
\nsubsidized prices instead of prices set for commercial
\nindustries, it claimed.<\/p>\n
The violation of the subsidy policy, the foundation added, has
\nled to a scarcity of kerosene and diesel fuel across the
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
Lampung's YLKI chairman Subadrayani Mursalim said on Saturday
\nthat his foundation had discovered certain companies exploiting
\nfuel subsidies meant for the poor by buying kerosene from non-
\nindustrial suppliers. The official price for industrial kerosene
\nis Rp 2,200 per liter, while for public consumption the price is
\nset at Rp 700 per liter.<\/p>\n
According to Subadrayani, kerosene has been sold to companies
\nin Lampung for only Rp 2,000 per liter, a saving of Rp 200 over
\nthe official price.<\/p>\n
Diesel fuel has also become expensive in many parts of the
\nprovince due to lack of supplies. It was selling for Rp 3,000 per
\nliter, causing many local fishermen to stay in port because they
\ncould not afford to pay the higher price.<\/p>\n
Subadrayani demanded that police start investigating the case
\nand take firm action against the companies involved.<\/p>\n
He said YLKI believed that certain officials of state-owned
\noil and gas company Pertamina were involved in the illegal
\npractice.<\/p>\n
Pertamina head of sales and distribution for Lampung region
\nDoni Indrawan denied involvement of officials from his company in
\nthe case.<\/p>\n
However, he admitted that around 200 companies in the province
\nuse kerosene in their production process but only 22 of them buy
\nthe fuel from Pertamina at the industry price.<\/p>\n
Doni said companies that refused to buy kerosene from
\nPertamina bought it from local public kerosene distributors at
\nsubsidized prices.<\/p>\n
He claimed that Pertamina had tried several times to \"explain\"
\nthe situation to the companies but they continued to use the
\nsubsidized kerosene.<\/p>\n
Pertamina would therefore start educating companies about the
\nnew fuel prices in cooperation with local administrations in
\norder to prevent the misuse of subsidized fuel for industrial
\npurposes, Doni added.<\/p>\n
He said Pertamina would form a coordination team to supervise
\nfuel distribution.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, protests against the fuel price hikes continued in
\nseveral cities across Indonesia on Saturday.<\/p>\n
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, protesting students hijacked two
\ncars belonging to the Wahidin Soedirohusodo General Hospital and
\nMakassar Treasury Office and used them as podiums to stage a
\nprotest.<\/p>\n
They also burned tires and waved banners. The protest caused
\na big traffic jam in front of Universitas 45 in downtown
\nMakassar.<\/p>\n
Arguing that the increases burdened the public, especially
\nlow- to medium-income people, the students threatened to continue
\ndemonstrating until the government revoked the price rise
\ndecision.<\/p>\n
Protesters said the price hikes have caused suffering as it
\nfollowed on from increases in the prices of basic commodities,
\nmeanwhile public purchasing power remained the same.<\/p>\n
No violence was reported during the protest.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/firms-enjoy-subsidized-fuel-in-lampung-ylki-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }