Hoarding by govt distributors blamed for kerosene shortages

Hoarding by govt distributors blamed for kerosene shortages

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Kerosene has become very scarce in the past two months in
Semarang, the capital of Central Java, and neighboring areas due
to a lack of supply, causing its price to soar.

The shortages of kerosene come ahead of state-owned Pertamina
oil company's plan to raise the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas
(LPG). However, the firm blamed the problem on kerosene
distribution irregularities.

Housewives in Semarang have to wait in long lines to buy
kerosene for up to Rp 1,500 per liter (18 U.S. cents). The
government-regulated price is Rp 1,000 per liter.

"Although it's expensive, I still have to wait in line and buy
it. I have to be able to cook," Sunarti, a housewife from Jangli
neighborhood in Semarang, said over the weekend.

The shortages have prompted the Semarang branch of the
People's Humanitarian and Justice Organization (Humanika) to
stage a protest at Pertamina's marketing office on Jl. Thamrin in
Semarang.

Semarang's Humanika chairman, Agus Salim al Banjaro, demanded
that Pertamina stop the kerosene monopoly and arrest those
involved in deliberately hoarding the necessary commodity in a
bid to squeeze local people dry to increase profits.

In a response to the protest, Pertamina's Central Java and
Yogyakarta Marketing Unit IV officials only reiterated that the
scarcity of kerosene was allegedly due to irregularities by
distributors.

"There are possibilities that kerosene for households is being
used for industrial purposes," said I Gusti Bagus Wisnu, head of
the office, in a reference to the unsubsidized kerosene that
large companies are required to purchase.

He asserted that Pertamina had distributed 4,766 kiloliters of
kerosene to areas in Central Java and Yogyakarta each day in
order to fulfill the daily needs for household use, which is
normally adequate.

For example, said Wisnu district in Semarang is supplied with
425,000 liters per day, which is more than adequate for the needs
of the 1.45 million residents.

"We had earlier estimated that the increase in demand for
kerosene was caused by an increase in the LPG price. We had also
assumed it was caused by drivers and fishermen mixing the
kerosene with diesel fuel in their diesel engines in a desperate
bid to keep their fuel costs lower. But our surveys in the field
last Wednesday found that our suspicions were not verified," he
said.

Wisnu said the suspicion that local fishermen's demand for
more kerosene was also to blame for the shortages was wrong too.

For example, in the fishing village of Tambaklorok, Semarang,
there are 16 kerosene depots and about 400 retailers to meet the
demands of local fishermen for 325,000 liters per month.

"Thus far, we have never run out of kerosene. We have always
fulfilled the demands of local residents," said Djumani, who
operates a kerosene depot.

He confirmed there were many fishermen who mixed kerosene with
diesel fuel as an economic step for their boat engines. "But the
need is not too high. We can fill the demands. I was rather
surprised that people are lining up to buy kerosene," Djumani
claimed.

Pertamina's spokesman for Central Java and Yogyakarta admitted
he could not identify those who were to blame for the
irregularities in distribution.

"But we don't know who is involved in the irregularities,
whether from Pertamina to distributors, or from distributors to
depots, or other parties," Wisnu asserted.