Kerosene everywhere but not a drop to buy<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru\/Medan\/Makassar<\/p>\n
Sutarmi reluctantly handed over a copy of her family card in
\norder to purchase five liters of kerosene from a kerosene agent
\nin Tanjung Datuk, Pekanbaru.<\/p>\n
\"It's like we're back in 1965. We have to line up to buy basic
\nnecessities,\" grumbled the 66-year-old woman on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The jamu (traditional tonic) seller became more upset after
\nlearning that she had to pay Rp 1,700 a liter, although the
\ngovernment has not raised the price of household kerosene from Rp
\n700 a liter.<\/p>\n
\"People say Riau is rich with oil. So why is kerosene so hard
\nto come by? And expensive, more's the pity. I was told the
\nPresident would help us, but he is only making us suffer. I
\nregret voting for him,\" said the old woman in a thick Javanese
\naccent.<\/p>\n
Ironically, despite the scarcity of kerosene, state oil
\ncompany Pertamina has decided to cut the kerosene supply in Riau
\nfrom 231 million liters in 2004 to only 225 million liters this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
\"Pertamina should have increased the kerosene supply in Riau,
\nnot reduced it. They have made the wrong decision,\" said head of
\ntrade and industry Emrizal Pakis.<\/p>\n
Riau Governor HM Rusli Zainal blamed speculators for the
\nkerosene scarcity in the province over the last month.<\/p>\n
\"I have not closed my eyes to the actions of speculators,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post. \"I have asked police and military chiefs
\nto arrest those responsible for the kerosene scarcity and the
\nsuffering of the people.\"<\/p>\n
A kerosene shortage has also been reported in Medan, forcing
\nDora Siahaan, a Medan Barat district resident, to go to several
\nagents in search of the fuel.<\/p>\n
However, despite the presence of 20 agents in her village,
\nthere was no kerosene to be had. Anytime people wanted to buy
\nkerosene, the agent would say it was running out, she said.<\/p>\n
\"It's been three days, I cannot get kerosene anywhere. Many
\npeople here are disappointed because there are plenty of kerosene
\nagents around but the kerosene is not there. Where has it all
\ngone?\" asked the 34-year-old woman.<\/p>\n
Across North Sumatra, people are learning to make do without
\nkerosene. Zulham, a resident of Tanjung Beringin in Serdang
\nBedagai regency, said he had been unable to get kerosene from any
\nof the 15 agents in his neighborhood, although each agent had
\nreceived 5,000 liters of kerosene from Pertamina.<\/p>\n
\"The funny thing is, the agents seem to be able to supply
\ncertain people with kerosene -- maybe they pay more than us,\" he
\nsaid, adding that a liter of kerosene was priced at Rp 1,000.<\/p>\n
Reinhard Simarmata, executive director of Bintang Rakyat, a
\nnon-governmental organization concerned with fuel issues, blamed
\nspeculators for the scarcity, saying his group had identified
\nseveral places allegedly being used by speculators to accumulate
\na stockpile of kerosene.<\/p>\n
He said the places included Medan Belawan, Medan Marelan and
\nMedan Labuhan districts.<\/p>\n
\"From our monitoring, there are around seven locations in the
\nthree districts that have a stockpile of fuel. The places cannot
\nbe touched by the law because they are allegedly backed up by
\nsecurity personnel,\" Reinhard said.<\/p>\n
He said such locations could also be found in Deli Serdang,
\nLangkat, Tanjung Balai and Asahan regencies.<\/p>\n
Reinhard said the speculators preferred to sell their fuel to
\nindustries and shipping companies for a bigger profit. Industrial
\nkerosene is now priced at Rp 2,200 per liter.<\/p>\n
He blamed the widespread practice on the weak control
\nexercised by Pertamina, accusing the company of ignoring the
\npractice due to its employees' involvement.<\/p>\n
Pertamina's head of public relations in Medan, Juliadi, denied
\nthe allegations. He said he had not received reports on agents
\nthat were accumulating kerosene, but promised to revoke the
\npermit of any agent found guilty of the practice.<\/p>\n
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, people have become accustomed to
\nqueuing up to buy kerosene.<\/p>\n
Wawan, 35, had to walk home holding an empty container after
\nwaiting for an hour to buy five liters of kerosene from an agent
\non Jl. Lamuru. The kerosene was finished before his turn arrived.<\/p>\n
\"I heard the agent on Jl. Tinumbu was just supplied with more
\nkerosene. I want to go there -- I hope I can get it this time.\"<\/p>\n
For him, cost is no longer the issue, he just wants to bring
\nkerosene home. For a liter, he usually pays around Rp 1,200 to Rp
\n1,500.<\/p>\n
In Makassar and other areas of South Sulawesi the retail price
\nof kerosene has been on the rise, from Rp 1,200 to Rp 2,000 per
\nliter.<\/p>\n
Facing high demand, agents now limit buyers to 10 liters each.<\/p>\n
The kerosene scarcity hit South Sulawesi after Pertamina cut
\nin January the kerosene supplied to each agent by 10 percent.<\/p>\n
General manager of Pertamina in Makassar, Ahmad Syafrudin
\nWiradikusumah, said the cut was conducted nationwide, blaming the
\nscarcity on the illegal trade of kerosene, whereby household
\nkerosene ended up being used by industries.<\/p>\n
He admitted he was aware of some cases of agents selling
\nkerosene to different areas or foreign shipping companies, as
\nwell as stockpiling kerosene.<\/p>",
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