Capital to extend 34 gas stations' land use permit

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration agreed on Thursday to extend the land use permit of 34 gas stations occupying green areas across the capital.

Assistant to the city secretary for administration affairs Makmun Amin said the city administration would prepare a land use contract of the green areas to define the business status of these gas stations.

Speaking in a hearing with the City Council Commission C for economic affairs, Makmun said the agreement would include the fee that the gas stations would have to give the city administration for the use of the green areas for a limited period. The stations occupy 4.8 out of 2,050 hectares of green area in the city.

"In the future, these locations will be converted to parks as they were originally intended to be. As for now, we need the gas stations to support the city's campaign to use unleaded gasoline," he said.

He was commenting on a statement issued by the head of the supply and marketing division of Pertamina's Jakarta office Tuty Anggraini, who said the state oil company would stop the gas supply to the stations due to their incomplete business permits.

Based on the 1999 memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the city administration, the federation of gas station entrepreneurs and gas suppliers, the city administration allowed the gas stations to occupy the green areas for five years provided they supply Jakartans with unleaded gasoline, such as high octane premix.

Among the owners of the gas stations is Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband Taufik Kiemas, whose gas station is located on the green area along Jl. Lapangan Ros Tebet, South Jakarta.

Another gas station, situated near the Semanggi intersection of Jl. Sudirman in South Jakarta, belongs to the widow of national hero Yos Sudarso.

Most gas stations in the city belong to the families of top military brass, former ministers or public figures.

Head of the gas station division of the National Federation of Oil and Natural Gas Entrepreneurs Sofyan Zakaria, said there were a total of 182 gas stations in the capital.

Sofyan said the gas stations occupying the city-owned green areas provide at least 30 percent of the city's daily consumption of leaded gasoline, which comprises 4,059,000 liters of premium and 1,532,000 liters of diesel fuel.

"We are willing to pay for use of green areas as long as the city administration guarantees our business status. We are prepared to discuss the proposal with the related institutions," said Sofyan.

He said due to the city administration's unclear policy, of the 16 gas station owners who signed the 1999 MoU, only one has managed to fulfill the agreement of providing unleaded gasoline.

"Hopefully the new agreement will solve the problem," he said. (07)