`Kerosene operation should continue'<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana and Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Poor residents are asking Pertamina and the city administration
\nto continue and expand its market operation to provide them with
\nprice-controlled kerosene.<\/p>\n
Residents of Rorotan subdistrict in Cilincing district, North
\nJakarta, said on Tuesday the price of kerosene had risen well
\nabove a city-set dealer price cap on the commodity.<\/p>\n
The government increased the price of kerosene from Rp 600 to
\nRp 700 per liter this year, while the city set a price cap of Rp
\n885 (9 US cents) per liter at the depot level -- or Rp 5 lower
\nthan the national depot-level price cap.<\/p>\n
However, the actual retail price is much higher.<\/p>\n
"Before the price hike I bought kerosene from nearby shops for
\nRp 1,000 per liter. But it soared to Rp 1,200 after the price
\nhike," a housewife, Ani, said.<\/p>\n
She said she was grateful for the market operation, which
\nallowed residents to buy kerosene for Rp 885 per liter.<\/p>\n
"It is just too bad that they limited the amount of kerosene
\nwe could buy, because I really need more kerosene," she said.<\/p>\n
During the market operation, organized by the city
\nadministration in cooperation with state-owned oil and gas
\ncompany Pertamina and the Jakarta chapter of fuel retailer
\nassociation Hiswana Migas, people only were allowed to buy 10
\nliters of kerosene to ensure there were sufficient supplies for
\neveryone.<\/p>\n
"A liter of kerosene is just enough for one day of cooking and
\nlight," said one resident, who like many poor people uses
\nkerosene stoves and kerosene lamps.<\/p>\n
Of 12,000 families, or about 26,000 people, in Rorotan
\nsubdistrict, some 1,600 families are officially classified as
\npoor.<\/p>\n
Another resident, Diah, said she usually paid Rp 1,200 per
\nliter for her kerosene, adding that not only was it expensive but
\nit was also hard to find.<\/p>\n
The market operation was aimed at bringing down kerosene
\nprices, which went up following simultaneous increases in fuel
\nprices and electricity and telephone rates.<\/p>\n
Baihaki Hakim, president director of Pertamina, said the
\ncompany intervened through the market operation in order to bring
\nkerosene prices back to normal.<\/p>\n
"If we find parties are trying to increase the price of
\nkerosene, we will carry out a market operation and sell the
\nkerosene in line with the initial price, which will deter
\nspeculators from unethically raising the price of kerosene," said
\nBaihaki during a visit to the market operation in Rorotan.<\/p>\n
He said Pertamina had more than enough kerosene stocks to
\nconduct market operations for one month. However, he did not go
\ninto detail about how many liters of kerosene Pertamina had at
\nits disposal.<\/p>\n
He also did not say when another market operation might take
\nplace in Rorotan or whether it would be possible for residents to
\nbuy more than 10 liters per family.<\/p>\n
The assistant chief of Cilincing district, Toni Sukanda, hoped
\nPertamina would conduct market operations more frequently.<\/p>\n
"In fact, we would expect Pertamina to provide kerosene
\nregularly, let's say twice a week," he said.<\/p>\n
Baihaki said market operations would take place as needed to
\nkeep prices down. "But we do not want to disrupt the business of
\nkerosene agents and depots by organizing market operations too
\noften."<\/p>\n
Pertamina's Domestic Marketing Unit III, which oversees
\nJakarta, Banten and West Java, allocated 610 kiloliters of
\nkerosene for the market operation, which started on Jan. 4.<\/p>\n
Jakarta received 215 kiloliters of the kerosene, while in West
\nJava Pertamina provided 175 kiloliters of kerosene in Bandung, 60
\nkiloliters in Bekasi, 50 kiloliters in Subang and 45 kiloliters
\nin Bogor.<\/p>\n
In Banten, 40 kiloliters were provided in Tangerang and
\nanother 25 kiloliters in Serang.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kerosene-operation-should-continue-1447893297",
"image": ""
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