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