Padang lacking kerosene

PADANG, West Sumatra: The disappearance of kerosene from the West Sumatra capital of Padang is still unresolved, prompting complaints from residents about the fuel's increasing price.

Several distributors and retailers in Alai, Purus, Ulak Karang and Lapai, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the state gas and oil producer Pertamina had not supplied extra kerosene to deal with the problem.

They said that people queued for kerosene every morning and had to pay between Rp 600 and Rp 900 a liter. In the Mentawai Islands a liter of kerosene costs Rp 2,000.

Previously, one liter of kerosene cost Rp 430 per liter in West Sumatra.

Reports claim that kerosene disappeared from Padang soon after the government announced its plan to increase fuel prices in April.

There has been no official explanation of the kerosene shortage in Padang which started one week ago.

Agus Taufik Harahap, head of Pertamina's local sales department, said that his office had also been puzzled by the fact that Padang was lacking kerosene.

"We supply 510,000 liters of kerosene every day through 48 distributors in West Sumatra," Agus said, suggesting that retailers had been stockpiling the product for their own benefit. (28/sur)