Kerosene shortage hits W. Java

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Kerosene shortages have spread to Bandung and neighboring cities in West Java following last week's Idul Fitri holidays, causing the fuel's price to increase by up to 200 percent per liter.

The worst affected towns include Tasikmalaya, Garut, Sumedang, Sukabumi, Ciamis and Bandung, where kerosene has been sold at between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,500 per liter. The official price is only Rp 550 per liter.

Earlier this month, similar shortages occurred in several towns in Central Java, such as Cilacap, Kebumen and Purwokerto.

A 50-year old housewife in the Bandung suburb of Cikutra, Mulyati, said it had been hard for residents there to buy kerosene from local stalls since last week. "Kerosene is now available only at big shops," she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

She said she had bought kerosene for the normal price before Idul Fitri festivities, but since Dec. 18 it had gradually increased to Rp 900 per liter on Wednesday.

Kerosene was also sold at higher prices in other suburban areas in Bandung, including Margacinta, Kopo Sayati, Ujungberung, Cimahi, Ciwedey and Pangalengan, due to the supply shortages.

The worst shortages were in Singaparna subdistrict in the West Java town of Tasikmalaya, where kerosene was selling at around Rp 1,500 per liter.

Since Tuesday, state oil company Pertamina has been implementing a "special market operation" by providing extra supplies of kerosene in several affected areas in Bandung to stabilize the soaring price.

Edi Adrian, head of Pertamina's government-people relations in Bandung, said his office had distributed at least 800,000 liters of kerosene across the city from its three depots in Padalarang, Ujungberung and Tasikmalaya.

However, the operation had not yet been fully effective as long queues of residents waiting to buy kerosene could still be seen in many parts of Bandung.

Pertamina has limited the purchase of kerosene to between five and 10 liters per family.

Another housewife Idah, 59, who lives in the Cikalong area in Pengalengan, said she was worried the shortages would not be addressed, with the price of kerosene remaining high.

She admitted that she had bought kerosene for Rp 900-950 per liter since last week. "It affects low-income people when the fuel price is always marked up by buyers," Idah said.

Despite the long lines of people waiting for expensive kerosene, Edi denied that residents faced difficulties in finding supplies. "There are no such shortages," he said.

Based on field monitoring carried out by Pertamina and the local branch of the National Oil and Gas Businessmen's Association (Hiswana Migas), Edi said that kerosene was no longer scarce in many markets and traditional stalls.

He also denied that the shortages were due to stockpiling by distributors seeking to generate higher revenues.

"The chaos is only due to the distribution network, not stockpiling. Most kerosene vendors are still enjoying holidays in their hometowns, so stocks overlap at distribution agents," he said.

Based on data from the Hiswana Migas, there are 1,044 kerosene distributors with between 6,000 and 7,000 vendors in Bandung. Most of them have yet to resume operations due to the Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays.