Jakartans brave LPG supply shortage
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Some Jakartans were still encountering difficulties in obtaining Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) on Wednesday despite a recent statement from state oil and gas company Pertamina that it will immediately restore supplies and distribution throughout the city.
"I still can't find any LPG to buy in this area," said Ibu Ratih, a food stall vendor on Jl. Muara Baru, Penjaringan, North Jakarta.
Like other residents in the area, Ratih usually seeks the help of becak (pedicab) peddlers to buy the LPG for her. In the last week, the peddlers have always returned empty-handed.
Fortunately, she said, she had a kerosene stove and could still buy kerosene that had not been subject to a price hike from the usual price of Rp 1,560 (18 US cents) per liter.
"But you can imagine how troublesome it is. I usually prepare food using two stoves but now can use only one."
Rokhim, an LPG retailer in the area, said that he had been refusing demands for LPG from customers because supplies in Koja, North Jakarta, had not arrived since last Friday.
He even suggested his customers look for LPG at other stores on Jl. Bandengan or in Ancol.
But even LPG vendors on Jl. Bandengan -- more than two kilometers away from Jl. Muara Baru -- were short of stock, as most of their LPG tanks were empty.
The same situation could be observed at the Kebayoran Lama traditional market in South Jakarta, where several stores that usually retail LPG cylinders put up signs saying they had run out of stock.
At a Pertamina LPG agent on Jl. Kebayoran Lama Raya, South Jakarta, the LPG stock appeared to be adequate but a worker there said that it had been nearly a week since supplies from Pertamina's LPG refilling station on Jl. Srengseng Raya, West Jakarta, had been delivered.
"We received only 100 cylinders yesterday, as compared with the usual 200," he said.
Dedy Somantri, an official at the refilling station, said that the reduction had been made to ensure that all agents would receive at least an adequate stock, if not the usual amount.
"Even at Pertamina's LPG depot in Koja, our own supply trucks have to queue and share the supply with trucks from other refilling stations due to a shipment delay," he said.
Fortunately, some citizens in the area south of Jakarta, like Ibu Yul, a resident of Pamulang, Tangerang, were still able to buy LPG before the shortage occurred.
"But my neighbor asked me yesterday where I bought LPG, because she couldn't find an outlet selling it anymore," she said, adding that she feared an LPG price hike was imminent as was the case whenever an LPG shortage occurred.
The city's supply and distribution of household LPG was disrupted earlier this week when a shipment of LPG from Singapore was delayed.
Pertamina, however, said that two LPG shipments of 3,000 metric tons and 3,150 metric tons respectively had arrived on Monday. With the current stock of 4,500 metric tons, there would be no problem fulfilling the city's regular daily demand of 1,300 metric tons.
Pertamina has been temporarily importing LPG from Singapore because its Balongan oil refinery in West Java is out of order.
On Wednesday, company spokesman Hanung Budya Yuktyanta said that the refinery, which can produce 1,200 metric tons of LPG per day, would resume its normal operation starting on Thursday.
LPG is widely used in urban households for cooking, and is usually sold in 12-kilogram cylinders at Rp 34,200 each.