Pertamina must be held responsible

Pertamina must be held responsible

From Suara Karya

The recent fuel shortage, particularly premium leaded
gasoline, in several locales was only a test case to find out its
impact. Media editorials have covered this matter, but nothing
was mentioned about who was responsible for the shortage.

Two things have been mentioned as causative factors for the
premium shortage in Jakarta gas stations, namely damage to
Balongan oil refinery, and the difficulty in importing fuel from
abroad.

These two factors are the responsibility of Pertamina.
Accordingly, Pertamina's President Director should set up a team
to investigate the damage at the Balongan refinery, which should
comprise Pertamina's technical team, and the police (Polri). This
must not be regarded as a trivial matter as this situation may
repeat and bring about disastrous consequences for the economy,
the impact of which will not only be on Jakarta and East Java,
but all of Indonesia.

As the damage was reportedly serious, the repairs won't be
completed in a short time. A prolonged fuel shortage at this time
undoubtedly would result in terrible consequences, especially
considering the sensitive environment surrounding the MPR Annual
Session.

The President Director of Pertamina has to be responsible for
everything taking place under his authority. Under no
circumstances should he leave this matter to the Minister of
Mining and Energy, as reported by several newspapers. Because
export, import, logistics, distribution, marketing and control of
oil refineries are under Pertamina's President Director.

Pertamina's President Director should be able to clarify to
the people of Jakarta what could have caused the fuel demand in
Jakarta to jump from 7,000 kilotons to 10,000 kilotons.

I'd like to call on the government to be watchful of the fuel
shortage in order to anticipate the disappearance of the nine
staple foods. It's hard to believe that oil disappears, isn't it?

JIWANDONO

Bekasi, West Java