Eight gas stations tamper with meters

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least eight gas stations in Greater Jakarta were found to have tampered meters, prompting state-owned oil company PT Pertamina to cut off gasoline supplies and shut down their operations.

The eight gasoline stations are located on Jl. Pluit Raya Selatan, Jl. Cakung Cilincing, North Jakarta; Bukit Sentul, Bogor; JL. Raja Cipondoh, Tangerang; JL. Raya Hankam Pondok Gede, Bekasi; Jl. Raya Pekayon, Bekasi; and Jl. Boulevard Timur, East Jakarta.

The one on Jl. Pluit Raya Selatan is owned by Puan Maharani, a daughter of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The gasoline stations were accused of installing pumps with meters recording a larger output than was actually pumped into the gas tanks. Pertamina has shut down all the gas stations.

The general manager of Pertamina's Marketing Division III, Chandra Kelana, was quoted by Antara as saying: "There are 11 gas stations around Greater Jakarta and in West Java that we have found to have pumps whose meters have been manipulated. My company will punish these infractions by stopping their fuel supplies for between two weeks and a month."

He explained that Pertamina had set standards for the amount of tolerable variance in the flow of gas and the reading on the meter.

Sometimes a meter actually records more gas being pumped into the tank than is actually the case because of leaks in the pump hose, but there is always the possibility that the meters have been deliberately tampered with, he said.

The gas pumps that were sealed had meters that exceeded the tolerable level of 50 milliliters divergence between the amount of gas actually pumped and the amount recorded on the meter. Some of the meters were off by as much as 200 to 300 milliliters. This would cause consumers to get about 5 percent less fuel than they actually paid for. For example, if a consumer bought 50 liters of fuel at one of the faulty pumps, they would only receive about 47.5 liters.

In 2004, Pertamina found 51 gas stations with inaccurate meters, with most of them found to have been tampered with to increase the recorded amount of gas being pumped.

Eleven of the 30 gas stations inspected by PT. Pertamina, the National Intelligence Agency, and the Weights and Measures Section of the Minister of Trade late on Wednesday night and early on Thursday were found to have meters that had been tampered with.

Chandra said that these stations would be denied fuel supplies until tests conducted by the Weights and Measures Section indicated the meters had been corrected.

A decision to terminate a business relationship between a delinquent gas station and PT. Pertamina would only be made if the gas station was found to have broken the regulations repeatedly.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Police reported that they had arrested two people on suspicion of selling premium gasoline diluted with dye and camphor as the higher quality, more expensive Pertamax and Pertamax Plus types of gasoline. The suspects were also believed to have been cheating their customers by tampering with the flow meters on their gas pumps.

The suspects, Sudarman, the owner of a gas station located at Jl. Gatot Subroto Kav. 1001, South Jakarta, and his employee, M. Aris Hidayat, who were arrested on March 15, are suspected to have been selling the illegally mixed fuel for about four years.

The gas station has been closed, and the suspects, who have been charged under the Oil and Gas Law (No. 22/2001), and the Consumer Protection Law (No. 8/1999), are still being held at city police headquarters. If tried and convicted, they could face a maximum of five years in prison and a Rp 50 billion fine on the first charge, and a maximum of five years in prison and a Rp 2 billion fine on the second charge.

Last Tuesday, the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Jakarta Police arrested Tatang Sentana Widma on suspicion of running an unlicensed fuel depot. At the time of his arrest, the authorities found him in possession of 60 tons of kerosene and diesel fuel at Jl. Pasar Minggu in Kembangan, West Jakarta.

Tatang, who is suspected of illegally purchasing the kerosene and diesel fuel from unscrupulous tank truck drivers and selling it to factories, could face up to 50 years in jail if convicted.