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.