Pertamina vows to provide more fuel for Muara Baru

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned Pertamina oil and gas company will provide 700 kiloliters of diesel fuel to cope with the scarcity of fuel needed by trawlers operating in Muara Baru.

"Part of the fuel has been sent to the Muara Baru fish port. The rest will be sent soon," Antara quoted Arya Imam Sanusi, the head of the Pertamina Logistics and Marketing Department, as saying over the weekend.

This is in response to the request made by the Bina Graha presidential office on Thursday that Pertamina provide more diesel fuel for trawlers operating in Muara Baru in an effort to boost the volume of fish production for export.

The scarcity of diesel fuel in Muara Baru port has caused trawlers, which normally sail for one month to catch fish at sea, to line up in a long queue for four or five days.

The Secretary for Development Control, Tuk Setyohadi, told reporters last week that the problem regarding the limited supply of diesel fuel at the port surfaced due to the fact that the status of the diesel fuel and gas station there is not clear.

Currently the station is still being managed and run by the state-owned Pelabuhan Perikanan Samudra which oversees fishing activities at sea.

Tuk has proposed that Pertamina take over control of the station. "It should be under the management of Pertamina so that the company will bear all transportation costs."

Arya said the scarcity of diesel fuel in Muara Baru was unknown by Pertamina. "We thought the stock of fuel there was sufficient."

He said this assumption was based on the fact that Pertamina had actually allocated 3,500 kiloliters of diesel fuel to the port, but of the total only 1,600 kiloliters were taken by those in charge of the Muara Baru diesel fuel station.

Arya further explained that the price of diesel fuel at the floating station in Muara Baru is slightly higher than that at other stations located off shore. "This is because we have to take transportation costs into account," he said.

Last week Tuk Setyoadi proposed that the diesel fuel provided to Muara Baru be sold for Rp 380 per liter, which is the standard price set by the government.

Arya, however, did not directly respond to the proposal, reiterating that the price of diesel fuel for Muara Baru should be "slightly higher." He did not elaborate and appeared evasive when asked to comment on Tuk's proposal.(Bas)