Fri, 31 Mar 2000

Kerosene supplies in city sufficent

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned oil company Pertamina has set aside 10 to 11 million kiloliters of kerosene for household usage in anticipation of the government's decision to hike the fuel price on April 1, an official said on Thursday.

"Pertamina has increased its daily supply from 12,500 kiloliters to 14,320 kiloliters," head of the City Economic Development Office Dameria Saragih told The Jakarta Post.

"The company has also prepared a team of 50 members to monitor possible skyrocketing kerosene prices in the city," she said after a meeting at City Hall that dealt exclusively with the issue of kerosene supply. The meeting was attended by officials from city administration, Pertamina and other agencies.

Similarly, an official at Plumpang fuel station in North Jakarta, Mohammad Amin, said activities at the station were normal. "We supply all tanks based on delivery orders, so it is surprising if people find it difficult to obtain kerosene," he said.

Following the government's decision to hike fuel prices on April 1, residents had reportedly started to find it hard to buy kerosene, for some people have stockpiled their own kerosene supplies in order to resell them after April.

The government will raise the price of kerosene from Rp 280 (3 US cents) to Rp 350 per liter. Residents, however, will have to buy the fuel between Rp 400 to Rp 500 per liter.

Several kerosene vendors and customers supported Dameria's statement that there was an adequate supply of kerosene.

Putra Gunawan, a kerosene depot owner on Jl. Cengkeh Ujung of West Jakarta's Pinangsia subdistrict, said he still sold kerosene at the normal price of Rp 400 per liter, and still found no problem with the supply.

"I just purchased a full tank of kerosene for the usual price of Rp 1.6 million this morning, so I have no reason to increase the price or keep some of it in stock," he said.

Customers have stated that they still purchased kerosene for Rp 400 to Rp 500 per liter.

The only complaint was uttered by kerosene vendor Pugi who said that the price of the supplier had jumped to Rp 450 per liter from the previous Rp 375.

"But I don't dare increase the price for my customers. I'm afraid that it will trigger unrest, so I decided to decrease the profit margin to only Rp 50 per liter," said Pugi, whose income has decreased to Rp 15,000 a day from about Rp 30,000 previously.

Dameria said residents should not be panic with the supply or stockpile kerosene because plenty was available.

"Residents can also contact the Halo Pertamina hotline service (number at 08001555555) to get information on kerosene supply 24 hours a day. Pertamina will also deploy its tanks at fuel stations, kerosene agents and depots," she added.

There are 124 kerosene agents and 1,163 kerosene depots throughout the city.

Dameria said the conclusion drawn from the meeting was that kerosene scarcity could be caused by housewives who might buy more than their daily consumption in anticipation of the hike.

"Pertamina has calculated that increasing daily supply by 14 percent should be able to provide everyone with enough kerosene," she said.

"We suspected that people might have bought kerosene to be then used for industrial purposes."

She also said Pertamina refused to supply more kerosene for household usage because of these possibilities.

"If Pertamina increases its daily supply, we can't be sure that all buyers will use it for their households," she said.

It was also decided in the meeting that all would share in the responsibility of monitoring kerosene distribution.

"Pertamina will control the distribution from its station in Plumpang. Mayoralty offices will control the price at resellers, while city-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya will monitor the price at markets under its management," she said. (ind/nvn)