Kerosene supply in Jakarta back to normal: Pertamina

JAKARTA (JP): Housewives will be able to continue to cook and keep their husbands at home as the kerosene supply in the capital will last until the end of the month, an official at state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina said on Saturday.

"There are 40,000 kiloliters of kerosene at Pertamina's supply and distribution center in Plumpang, North Jakarta, which is enough to meet city residents' demand for ten days," the spokesman for Pertamina oil supply and distribution division for Jakarta and West Java, Awi Adil, told The Jakarta Post by phone.

"There will be 3,000 more kiloliters of kerosene, which is expected to come from Plaju, Palembang, South Sumatra, tomorrow (Sunday)," he said.

Pertamina chief Baihaki Hakim denied media reports on Friday that there was a shortage of kerosene in the capital.

"We inspected the market and found no indications of a kerosene shortage in the city," he announced on Friday.

He said 500,000 more kiloliters of kerosene would arrive soon.

Awi blamed the scarcity of kerosene in the city over the past two days on a late tanker from Malaysia.

"We have directly distributed kerosene to several markets in the city to make sure people are getting enough," Awi said, adding that the operation was conducted at 20 state-owned Pasar Inpres markets.

The kerosene was sold at Rp 350 (3 US cents) a liter, even though residents usually buy kerosene at Rp 500 a liter.

Several kerosene truck drivers, who were interviewed while filling their trucks at Plumpang, said supply had been back to normal since Saturday morning.

"Yesterday, a lot of us had to go to Bandung to buy kerosene from the Padalarang and Gedebage kerosene distributors," one of the drivers, Meidy, said.

Another driver, Masmun, said some drivers had accidents during their trip to get kerosene in Bandung.

"We had to go at night, and since we are not familiar with the road, some of us hit some cliffs in Padalarang," Masmun said.

"But thank God the kerosene supply is normal again today," he added.

While officials say the supply at Plumpang is sufficient and ready for distribution, some kerosene depot owners at Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta and residents in Palmerah district, West Jakarta, complained of a kerosene shortage in the area on Saturday.

A depot owner in Tanah Abang market, Eko Saputro, said he had not received any kerosene for the last three days from his regular agent in Slipi, West Jakarta.

"My employees went to many areas of the city to get kerosene. But this morning they returned with only two cans," he said. One can contains 20 liters of kerosene.

Eko said he had to sell kerosene for Rp 750 a liter to cover the transportation expense.

A resident, who lives near the market, also complained about the scarcity of kerosene.

"I have to go to a depot about one kilometer from here just to buy kerosene," Sri, a mother, said.

A mother at Pasar Palmerah in Central Jakarta said she was thinking of replacing her kerosene stove with a gas-operated one.

"But I cannot afford to buy a gas-operated stove. The gas bottle is too expensive for me. I think I'll just cook with wood today," she said.

Gasoline

In regard to the gasoline shortage last week, a legislator said on Friday that there was a possibility that gasoline could have been smuggled out of the country.

"If gas stations only serve cars and motorcycles at a normal rate, there won't be any gasoline scarcity here," legislator Adenan Razak said in a meeting with city councillors on Friday.

"Many trucks, loaded with drums of gasoline, have been taken somewhere out of the capital," he added, but did not elaborate.

While most gas stations in the capital have returned to normal, some, such as the one at Tanah Kusir in South Jakarta, were still closed on Saturday due to the gasoline shortage. (08)