Filipinos blamed for fuel scarcity

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.