Fuel shortage hits Indramayu

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu

Some 5,000 fishing boat captains in the West Java town of Indramayu are threatening to go on strike in the near future as continuing shortages of diesel fuel hamper their ability to operate their vessels.

The shortages have also caused a serious problem to bus and truck drivers, who said they were incensed due to a lack of diesel fuel for the past week.

"Fishermen simply cannot operate their boats. It means their source of income is threatened, and to make matters worse they desperately needed the income ahead of the post-Ramadhan festivities of Idul Fitri," Darsono, the head of the local maritime and fishery office, said.

Lamentably, he added, state-owned oil firm Pertamina has seemingly ignored the people whose livelihood depends on fuel and perhaps taken advantage of the situation. He went on to allege that "certain parties were personally benefiting" from the shortages by stockpiling fuel and selling it at drastically increased prices. The official price should be Rp 900 per liter, but has shot up to Rp 1,500 per liter.

Darsono promised he would confront Pertamina and demand an explanation.

Suryaman, head of the Indramayu mining office, claimed that the core problem to the shortages of diesel fuel was unclear to him.

"On one side, Pertamina has claimed to have channeled (diesel fuel) normally according to demand. But, on the other hand fuel stations admitted they had not received their normal supply. This seems to indicate that they each want to avoid responsibility," he added.

Suryaman said his office plans to invite officials from the distribution division and other related parties within Pertamina to discuss the shortages and solve the problem.

Indramayu Regent Irianto Syafiuddin had instructed Suryaman and Darsono to find a solution to tackle the shortages as soon as possible.

Suryaman seemed to point the finger at Pertamina as he said his staff had verified the shortages at fuel stations across the city and most of them said they were not receiving their normal supply.

He added that the shortages have since spread to neighboring cities of Cirebon and Subang, also causing problems.

Many locals blame the shortages on certain large businesses which they claim had hoarded fuel by buying in bulk on the open market at lower prices. Many factories, indeed have special rates which are higher than the non-commercial rates applied to the public, which includes small-time fishermen and bus drivers.

The government has set the price of diesel fuel for the general public at Rp 900 per liter, while the price for medium and large businesses is around Rp 1,500 per liter.