Pertamina says only "little fishes" linked to smuggling
Pertamina says only "little fishes" linked to smuggling
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Rp 8.8 trillion (US$850 million) in annual state losses caused by oil theft and smuggling was committed by low-ranking officials, PT Pertamina's board of directors announced on Friday, and 12 of them had already been discharged.
Seven of the discharged employees included a cook, security official, refinery operation official, tanker crew and a driver at the state oil and gas firm's Lawe-lawe oil port in East Kalimantan, while the other five were contract employees.
The announcement -- made after Pertamina's president director Widya Purnama was summoned by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to explain the issue -- somewhat disappointed the press as no "big fish" were named, causing an uproar in the Presidential Palace's conference room.
"To protect the credibility of Pertamina, I disclose these names (of the low-ranking officials). Sumardiyono is the highest ranking official discharged so far," Widya said, referring to the port's supervision chief.
Widya, however, defended himself by saying that the oil firm was in the process of questioning several of its middle- and high-level officials over the case, but with no early indication of their involvement thus far.
"There are no attempts by us to protect Pertamina senior officials allegedly involved in this case. I promise that the investigation will be transparent," he said.
"I am willing to take responsibility in this case and I am willing to resign if requested," he added.
Widya was summoned by Susilo, following the President's remarks on Thursday that the police had found indications of Pertamina officials' involvement in the smuggling of crude and refined oil throughout the country.
The police have uncovered smuggling networks in East Kalimantan, Riau Islands, Central Java, East Java and eastern parts of Indonesia, which have also involved foreign nationals from China and Singapore.
In the meeting with the firm's board of directors, Susilo asked the company for an explanation of the matter, as well as requesting that management be transparent and cooperative with investigating law officers.
"The President has asked Pertamina directors not to try to cover up the involvement of high-ranking officials in the provinces or in Jakarta," said Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi.
He added that Susilo had instructed Pertamina's management to order its employees to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
It remains unclear, however, if Susilo has requested full accountability from Pertamina's board of directors, with most of them being career employees who may have been aware of the crimes since the 1980s.
Fuel smuggling is driven by the wide discrepancies between global and domestic fuel prices. Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, has been trying to keep the price of its fuel for domestic consumption lower than the international price.
The smuggling activity has deeply disappointed the public at a time when the country is suffering from soaring oil prices -- hovering above US$65 per barrel -- which is likely to drive up the cost of the fuel subsidy to Rp 119.4 trillion this year.