More fuel stations to be built for Jakarta fishermen

More fuel stations to be built for Jakarta fishermen

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Small-scale fishermen will soon be able to procure fuel for their
boats at the official price as the city administration has plans
to build three fuel stations and a bunker for fishermen this year
in cooperation with the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries and state-owned oil company Pertamina.

Fishermen used to buy diesel fuel at higher prices as they had
to bear the transportation costs from the nearest filling station
in Muara Angke, North Jakarta, to their boats moored some one
kilometer westward in the Kali Adem area.

"Fishermen will be able to buy fuel for their boats at the
official price as Pertamina is willing to bear the transportation
cost," Husni Manggabarani of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and
Fisheries told reporters on Friday.

Husni held a meeting with Governor Sutiyoso on Friday to
discuss the plan of setting up the four fuel stations for small-
scale fishermen.

Currently, there is already a fuel station in Muara Angke,
North Jakarta geared to serve bigger-scale fishermen, while the
ministry just opened a fuel station for small-scale fishermen
last month near Kali Adem.

The three fuel stations will be built along the North Jakarta
coastline at Kamal Muara, Cilincing and Kali Baru, while the fuel
bunker will be built on Pramuka Island in Kepulauan Seribu
(Thousand Islands) regency.

The three stations will have a minimum capacity of 5,000
liters, while the fuel bunker will have a capacity of some 20,000
liters.

The bunker on Pramuka Island is intended to serve as a fuel
distribution center for the Kepulauan Seribu regency.

Meanwhile, Sutiyoso said the city administration was urging
the fishermen to unite themselves in groups and cooperatives to
run the fuel stations.

"The fishermen will be asked their opinion on which locations
are best suited for their needs before we start building the fuel
stations," he said after the meeting.

Husni, director general of sea fisheries at the ministry, said
that with the cooperatives, the small-scale or traditional
fishermen, who are determined by a boat size of less than 30
Gross Tons (GT), would receive more benefits than just being able
to buy fuel at the official price.

"The fishermen will be able to get the fuel anytime as the
supply is guaranteed by Pertamina. They will also have the
opportunity to manage the fuel stations through fishermen's
cooperatives," he said.

"Since the fuel stations are managed by the fishermen
themselves, they will be able to pay for the fuel in credit
instead of in cash."

The ministry is planning to set up 1,260 filling stations
nationwide at a total cost of more than Rp 25 billion (US$2.7
million) taken from the state budget.

"The actual number, however, could exceed the initial estimate
as many regional administrations have expressed interest in
building fuel stations from their own budget," said Husni.

Sutiyoso said he had appointed head of the Jakarta Husbandry,
Fishing and Maritime Agency, Muhammad Rahardjo as coordinator to
handle cooperation between the ministry and Pertamina.

Rahardjo, however, failed to provide any detailed information
on the program saying he had left all the data in his office.

He said he forgot the approximate number of small-scale
fishermen in the city and their daily fuel requirements.