As the Long Queues Ease, Activity Returns to Normal

At 7am, rows of four-, six- and ten-wheeled vehicles were already stretching along the Banda Aceh–Meulaboh national road.

Queues of vehicles seeking Biosolar diesel have become a common sight at almost every public petrol station (SPBU) in Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh.

Drivers transporting construction materials and goods, as well as public transport operators, have been forced to interrupt their working hours to take their turn to refuel. Engines rumbled and thin clouds of exhaust filled the air as vehicles moved one by one towards the pumps.

Amid the long line, Sabirin, a material-truck driver from Aceh Besar, said he had worried that if the situation continued for long, it would affect the income he brought home to his family.

He said he had to get up earlier to obtain Biosolar. If he arrived late, the queue would already be stretching out and the wait could reach an hour.

The waiting time directly affects how many loads of materials he can transport. At times, he tries to get around the problem by queuing at night so that he can head straight to the material collection site in the morning.

“Sometimes it’s a matter of luck. If the queue isn’t long when we arrive, we can refuel quickly and get back to earning a living. But if the vehicles are already backed up, we have to wait rather than risk running out of fuel while carrying a load,” he said.