Police press charges against 'hoarders'<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
City police are filing criminal charges against owners of several
\ngasoline stations here for deliberately stopping their operations
\namid the fuel rush ahead of the price hike announcement.<\/p>\n
City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Friday that
\nhe had ordered all precinct and subprecinct chiefs in the Greater
\nJakarta area to complete case files against gas station owners
\nhoarding fuel.<\/p>\n
\"We have sealed several gas stations and are questioning their
\nowners as we have evidence that they closed their premises even
\nthough they still had plenty of stock,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Law No. 22\/2002 on oil and gas carries a maximum sentence of
\nsix years for hoarders.<\/p>\n
At least five gas stations were sealed by police on Thursday
\nand Friday.<\/p>\n
A gas station on Jl. Ampera Raya in South Jakarta was sealed
\non Thursday afternoon, and its manager, identified as A, 37, and
\nowner, identified as Arh, were being questioned by police.<\/p>\n
Residents, who had seen a fuel truck filling the gas station,
\nreported to the police when the operator of the gas station said
\nthat they had run out of stock and refused to sell fuel.<\/p>\n
Police then checked and found that they still had 9,000 liters
\nof Premium.<\/p>\n
Three gas stations in Tebet, Lenteng Agung and Jagakarsa, all
\nin South Jakarta, and one in Tangerang, Banten province were also
\nsealed off for the same reason.<\/p>\n
Firman said that some gas stations told customers that they
\nhad run out of fuel when in fact they had pumped out the fuel and
\nstored it elsewhere to be resold later at higher prices.<\/p>\n
He said that they had strong evidence on the hoarding activity
\nas two police officers were stationed at each gas station, while
\nmotorists had been actively reporting violations.<\/p>\n
\"When people complained that certain gas stations had closed
\ntheir operations because of supply shortages, we called Pertamina
\nto send more fuel. But when Pertamina told us that they had sent
\nenough fuel, we sealed off the gas station right away and
\nquestioned the operator and the owner,\" Firman said.<\/p>\n
While police were taking firm actions against gas stations,
\nthey appeared to have done little to go after small-time hoarders
\nwho had reportedly stockpiled fuel since the government announced
\nearlier this month that it would raise fuel prices by up to 80
\npercent.<\/p>\n
Firman said police and Pertamina would check the stocks at
\neach gas station to find out how many liters they had left to
\ndetermine how much money they must pay to the state oil company.<\/p>\n
\"So, it is useless for gas stations to hoard fuel as we will
\ncheck their stocks. They must pay according to the new price for
\nthe remaining stock,\" Firman said.<\/p>\n
He said that as police were now concentrating on securing
\nprotest tallies against the fuel price hike, they expected to
\ncomplete the case files after Oct. 2 when protests have receded.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Police on Thursday also arrested three men in Marunda
\nin North Jakarta for illegally transferring fuel from Cepu in
\nCentral Java to the capital.<\/p>\n
They confiscated two ships containing a total of 47,000 liters
\nof Premium and diesel oil.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-press-charges-against-hoarders-1447893297",
"image": ""
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