Fuel shortage hits Indramayu

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.