Jakartans brave LPG supply shortage

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.