Filipinos blamed for fuel scarcity

Yongker Rumthe, The Jakarta Post, Manado

State oil and gas company Pertamina in Manado has blamed illegal fuel buyers from the Philippines for the scarcity and soaring prices of kerosene and gasoline in North Sulawesi recently.

Muhamad Zaini, head of Pertamina's Manado branch, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the Filipino buyers were prepared to purchase fuel at far higher prices, which prompted local people in the border area to smuggle the precious commodity.

"The Filipinos buy kerosene at Rp 2,550 per liter against the retail ceiling price of between Rp 450 and Rp 550 per liter for the province, which means about Rp 10 million per tank of 5,000 liters against less than Rp 3 million at the official rate," he said.

This dramatic price discrepancy on the black market, according to Zaini, has led to this current rush on fuel by the local people who buy from Pertamina and promptly turn around and sell the fuel to the Filipinos operating near Sangihe-Talaud border areas.

Zaini claimed that Pertamina in the city had always made fuel available to the region based on the government formula of three liters per person monthly.

In Manado and Bitung, kerosene is sold at between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,300 per liter, while the price of Premium gasoline is at Rp 1,400 despite the long lines of public transport vehicles at gas stations, and the fact that diesel fuel was still scarce.

The current fuel crisis has been ongoing for some time in Sangihe Talaud, North Sulawesi's northernmost regency which shares common borders with the Philippines, where kerosene sells at between Rp 4,500 and Rp 5,000 per liter on the retail market. Premium gasoline can be as high as Rp 15,000 and diesel is very scarce.

Charles Edah, the Talaud Youth Generation leader, explained that the fuel shortage in the area had been ongoing since May 2000, forcing the local people to rely on the volatile clove business in order to survive.

"Pertamina's fuel supply for the regency has been reduced to only two liters per person monthly, with the remaining allocation perhaps being smuggled out (by Pertamina)," he asserted.

Denying the charge, Zaini said that the local branch of Pertamina had only limited ways of controlling and taking action against such illegal fuel sales.

Based on a government regulation, "the regional administration, the National Police, the Navy and Army are also responsible for the safeguarding of fuel supply," he pointed out.

In response to the kerosene undersupply in the province, Zaini adopted a new system by which an agent will serve a district, thus making it easier to detect any violation.

"Agents involved in illicit trade will have their allocation slashed, while the number of agents and dealers for the region's island group will be increased," he concluded.