Fuel shortages trigger price increases

Fuel shortages trigger price increases

The Jakarta Post, Kupang/Lampung/Cirebon

The fuel shortages in some regions lead to increases in the price
of premium gasoline on Friday from the usual Rp 2,400 per liter
to as much as Rp 15,000 (US$1.57), resulting in knock-on hikes in
the prices of some basic commodities and public transportation
fares.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) leader Megawati
Soekarnoputri urged the government on Friday to do its utmost to
deal with the fuel crisis and accept full responsibility for its
failings.

"In my view, the government has failed to properly address the
crisis," said the former president after opening a conference of
the party's West Java branch in Cirebon. "The government must
work harder to find a solution."

She said it was the government's responsibility to solve the
fuel crisis and the longer it took to do so, the more the public
would suffer.

On Friday, the prices of basic commodities in the East Nusa
Tenggara city of Kupang continued to rise, a process that started
two days previously, as many traders encountered transportation
problems.

"A lot of public transportations vehicles are not operating so
that we have to take ojek (motorcycle taxis) to move our goods
around, even though it costs us more. To cover these extra costs,
we've had to increase our prices," Okto Benu, an egg vendor in
Pasar Kasih Naikoten 1 market in Kupang, said on Friday.

On the same day, a bag of 20 eggs was being sold in the market
for Rp 18,000 compared to the usual Rp 13,000, while a 25-
kilogram bag of rice was on sale for Rp 90,000, compared to the
normal price of Rp 86,000.

A spokesman for the East Nusa Tenggara governor, Umbu Saga
Anakaka, said on Friday that the administration could do little
to control the price increases.

"The price hikes are taking place because of market
conditions. People, especially the traders, are directly affected by
the fuel shortage, so we can't prevent them from increasing their
prices," Umbu said.

On the fifth day of the fuel crisis in Kupang, long lines of
vehicles were a regular sights at every gas station in the city, while
premium gasoline was being sold for between Rp 10,000 and Rp
15,000 per liter by roadside vendors, much higher than the
official price of Rp 2,400 per liter.

In Lampung province, the price of gasoline has risen to up to
Rp 10,000 per liter, especially outside the provincial capital,
Bandarlampung. In towns such as Liwa and Krui in West Lampung,
which are some 300 kilometers away from Bandarlampung, the price
of premium had risen to Rp 12,000 per liter on Friday.

The increasing fuel price have also affected the prices of
some basic commodities and public transportation fares.

At the Tamin central market, a kilogram of chili peppers was
being sold for Rp 12,500 on Friday, compared to the normal price
of Rp 7,000, while onions were on offer for Rp 6,000 a kilogram,
compared to the usual Rp 2,000.

One trader, 50-year-old Sulasmi, said that prices had gone up
due to a shortage of supplies. She also said that over the last
five days fewer customers had been coming out to shop as a result
of the higher public transport fares.

Marsidi, a public transportation driver on the Tanjungkarang-
Rajabasa route, said he now had to wait up to three hours to buy
gasoline at official gas stations as he could not afford to buy
it from sidewalk vendors.

"It's very expensive buying it from the vendors. Besides, it's
quite possible the gas will have been adulterated (with
kerosene), and that's no good for the engine," he said.

In order to earn enough, he has had to raise his fares from
the usual Rp 1,200 to Rp 2,000 per person. "This has got me into
a lot of arguments with the passengers," Marsidi said.

Waljianto, the manager of PT Pertamina's marketing unit in the
Panjang, Bandarlampung, put the blame for the crisis on panic
buying.

"The long lines at all the gas stations here over the last
three days have been the result of people panicking, while in
fact the gasoline supply in Lampung is already back to normal, at
900,000 liters per day for the last three days," Waljianto said.

He said that he was working with the police to prevent the
hoarding of gas and its adulteration with diesel or kerosene.