Fuel siphoners earn a living by running after dregs

Fuel siphoners earn a living by running after dregs

By A'an Suryana

JAKARTA (JP): Motorists in and around the capital are probably
familiar with the sight of teenage boys and young men chasing
after passing fuel trucks, opening the valves on the backs of the
vehicles, collecting drops of fuel in small buckets and
scattering.

These people are usually found near toll gates, at traffic
lights and along streets known for their traffic congestion. They
arm themselves with buckets or plastic bags. These fuel
siphoners, locally known as tukang tiris minyak, usually work in
groups, selling the fuel to brokers who wait nearby with large
buckets and jerry cans.

According to the drivers of the truck and officials from
state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, the fuel siphoners are
not criminals because they "only" take the dregs of fuel left
inside the tanks of the trucks.

The siphoners only enemy is the police, though numerous
motorists have complained about the recklessness of these liquid
scavengers, who run through traffic at great risk to themselves.

One of the most popular sites for fuel siphoners in the
capital is the city's sole Pertamina fuel distribution center in
Plumpang, on the busy street of Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta.

Scores of them are seen from Monday to Saturday hanging around
the site looking to collect those few drops of fuel left inside
the empty tanks of the trucks.

Like those in the business across the capital, the Plumpang
siphoners, mostly barefoot and carrying pails or plastic bags,
run after the passing trucks, open the valves on the tanks and,
with the satisfaction showing on their faces, collect the fuel as
the run along behind the trucks.

The whole process usually only takes a few seconds. However,
if the siphoners are lucky, it can take at least two minutes to
collect the remaining fuel in the tanks.

The siphoners place their filled buckets and bags into zinc
buckets they have placed strategically near their place of
"business".

Understand

Interviewed separately by The Jakarta Post on Saturday, the
Plumpang fuel siphoners said they could understand the concerns
of motorists, but were unwilling to give up their work and the
money it afforded them.

The siphoners said they earned between Rp 15,000 (US$1.70) and
Rp 30,000 per day, an amount of money they felt justified the
risks they took.

"I'm able to collect 20 to 30 liters a day for which I can
earn between Rp 15,000 and Rp 30,000. After cutting the cost of
my meal, I can save Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000 a day," said Waryanto,
26, a father of two.

Other fuel collectors gave similar figures.

But according to Lambok Sianipar, 22, a number of siphoners
have been hit by fuel trucks while collecting the gasoline.

"Three years ago, my left foot was crushed while I was chasing
a moving truck. I was forced to go to a masseur and recovered
several days later," said Lambok, who has been in the business
for seven years.

He also said he and his friends were often arrested and
charged with disrupting traffic. "We're beaten up but released
later. It's a risky job, indeed. But if we don't do it, we can't
eat," said Lambok, who lives in a boarding house on nearby Jl.
Jati.

Waryanto, Lambok and dozens of other Plumpang siphoners work
from 6 a.m to 5 p.m. six days a week. "We're off on Sundays since
there are no fuel trucks operating on that day. We also don't
work when it rains," said Waryanto.

Sympathy

Most of the fuel collectors were full of praise for the
understanding and sympathy the truck drivers showed them.

"If they drive slower, we are able to collect the fuel,"
Waryanto explained.

However, not all of the drivers are sympathetic, with several
expressing animosity toward the siphoners. "We'll be blamed for
any accidents they suffer," said Rizal, a driver for fuel
transportation company PT Karya Putra Mulya Usaha.

He said he was forced to drive carefully through those areas
where the siphoners worked, slowing down to avoid the darting
figures of the siphoners.

"I always ask my assistant driver to watch and see whether
there are fuel collectors near my truck. I always reduce my speed
if someone is collecting gasoline from us," Rizal said.

But he said the truck drivers were helpless or unwilling to
put a stop to the risky business of the siphoners. "We understand
they are struggling for life. Why we should stop them?"

According to the siphoners, they sell the fuel they collect to
brokers at about Rp 400 per liter.

The brokers then resell the fuel for about Rp 500 per liter,
or Rp 100 less than motorists pay at gas stations.

"From the fuel collectors, I get some 440 liters of fuel or
about two big drums daily," said Subakir, a broker who works near
a gate at the Plumpang distribution center.

The broker, who can earn up to Rp 40,000 a day, sells the fuel
to motorists on Jl. Yos Sudarso. "I sell the fuel to motorists
who are almost out of gas or reluctant to line up at gas
stations," said the father of two.

Tuty Anggraeni, the head of Pertamina's oil supply and
distribution division for Jakarta and West Java, said the
siphoners did not cause the company any losses.

"They only take a few liters of fuel, and those are the dregs.
We are only concerned by the traffic on the street here, since it
can be disrupted by their presence," she told the Post.