Fuel crisis hits Lampung fishermen

Fuel crisis hits Lampung fishermen

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Hasanudin grabbed his empty fuel container back when a policeman
tried to take it from him as he waited in line at a gas station
in Kotakarang, Bandarlampung.

"Do I have to bring my boat here? No way, right? If you make a
rule, be fair. Traders can buy gasoline with containers, why
can't I," yelled the 29-year-old man in an upset tone.

In the last three days, state oil company Pertamina, gas
station owners and Lampung police have prohibited people from
buying gasoline in containers. Despite the ban, many people,
including retailers, were still seen stockpiling gasoline.

For Hasanudin, a fisherman, it has been a week since the fuel
shortage meant he could not go to sea in his small ketinting
boat.

The native of Bugis, South Sulawesi, who fishes in waters
around Lampung Bay, said he could not afford buying gasoline from
retailers where prices had inflated by up to 300 percent.

"At retailers a liter of gasoline is being sold from between
Rp 7,000 and Rp 10,000. How can I afford this? If I force myself
to buy it, I won't make any money because I can't go far enough
out to sea to get a good catch," he said.

Hasanudin has been working for other fishermen during the past
few days to try and support his family.

"In the last few days, I've working for neighbors who have
motorized boats that use diesel oil. But it's hard now because
they are also finding it a problem to get diesel. It's also
expensive, at Rp 5,000 a liter," Hasanudin said.

Going out to sea for a night, he usually brings home between
five and 10 kg of fish that he sells for up to Rp 5,000 a kg.
Working for other fishermen, who operate only once every two
days, he could only earn Rp 15,000 a day.

"I've been forced to postpone my child's attendance at
elementary school. I don't have the money. Just eating every day
is already hard, not to mention paying school registration fees."

Another traditional fisherman, 40-year-old Daroji, has also
had to abandon his boat.

"I bought gasoline from retailer at Rp 7,000 a liter once but
I made no profit since I only earned Rp 30,000 that night," said
Daroji. For a decent, wide-ranging round-trip, his boat needed
around 10 liters of gasoline, he said.

"The surprising thing is, retailers can easily get gasoline."

For traditional fishermen like Hasanudin and Daroji, the fuel
crisis comes on top of the 15 kilometer-long land reclamation
project in Lampung Bay, which they say has caused fish to be more
scarce in the area.

"Since the reclamation project started, the fish that usually
swim near the beach are gone. Me and other fishermen can't go
far, and now, the fuel price is really killing us," Daroji said.

Lampung Coastal Community Alliance chairman Juandi said there
were 1,500 traditional fishermen working in the waters in Lampung
Bay and Semangka Bay.

"About 1,000 of the fishermen can no longer go to sea due to
the fuel crisis. Many of them have been forced to earn a living
as pedicab drivers or manual workers," said Juandi, who oversees
some 100 ketinting fishermen.

He said the alliance once asked the Lampung provincial and
Bandarlampung municipal administrations if they could help
provide easy access to gasoline and diesel to fishermen but there
was no response.

"Before the fuel shortage, the price of diesel in fishing
villages ranged between Rp 3,000 and Rp 5,000 a liter. Now it's
not only gasoline that's hard to find but diesel too," Juandi
said.