Kerosene still scarce in Java

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: Despite promises by the state oil and gas company Pertamina to increase output, kerosene is still scarce in the province.

The Jakarta Post observed on Saturday that kerosene retailers still had to stand in line for over two hours in order to get a maximum of two liters, due to the shortage.

Sellers had to pay Rp 600 per liter to distributors, a steep increase over the Rp 350 they paid before kerosene began disappearing from markets a few weeks ago.

Governor Mardiyanto said that a close watch would be conducted to find bad distributors who were not properly delivering supplies of kerosene.(08)