Medan City Government Offers Assistance to Pertamina to Resolve Fuel Distribution Issues

The Medan City Government, North Sumatra, has offered assistance to Pertamina Patra Niaga Regional Sumbagut to overcome obstacles in the distribution of fuel oil (BBM) in the region. “We, on the instructions of the Mayor, continue to monitor this fuel queuing issue. We have also offered to Pertamina that if there are matters requiring assistance, the Medan City Government is ready to help,” said the Assistant for Economy and Development of the Medan Regional Secretariat, Citra Effendi Capah, after visiting Pertamina Patra Niaga Regional Sumbagut in Medan on Wednesday. He stated that the visit was a commitment by the local city government to ensure public comfort in obtaining fuel supplies in Medan. Effendi emphasised that the city government is ready to assist Pertamina in optimising fuel distribution. “That is why we came to seek clarity. The public needs certainty about what is actually happening,” he said. On that occasion, he said that fuel stocks, based on information from Pertamina Patra Niaga for Medan City, are safe and sufficient. Effendi stated that technical distribution issues were the cause of long queues at a number of petrol stations in Medan in recent days. “The explanation received by the Medan City Government states that the problem is purely a technical distribution constraint, not a shortage of fuel supply,” he said. Nevertheless, he expressed hope that Pertamina Patra Niaga Regional Sumbagut would act quickly by undertaking various efforts to resolve the occurring constraints. “As a concrete step on the ground, the Medan City Government has deployed personnel from the Transportation Agency and the Civil Service Police Unit to a number of petrol stations to help manage traffic flow and vehicle queues to keep them orderly,” he explained. Meanwhile, Sales Area Manager Retail Medan of Pertamina Patra Niaga Regional Sumbagut, Tito Rivanto, appreciated the attention of the Medan City Government for coming to coordinate directly regarding fuel distribution. He confirmed that fuel stocks in the region are safe and not experiencing shortages, thus able to meet public needs. However, he said, the company is currently carrying out internal improvements, particularly in the fuel distribution system using tanker trucks. “Even so, the improvements are being carried out in parallel with efforts to maintain smooth distribution to all petrol stations,” said Tito. He said the company has added tanker truck fleets, brought in drivers from external parties, and increased the number of petrol stations operating 24 hours in Medan City to accelerate normalisation. “We hope these measures will gradually improve service to the public so that long queues that disrupt the conducive situation in Medan City do not recur,” he said.