Sulawesi NGO to sue Pertamina over fuel crisis
Sulawesi NGO to sue Pertamina over fuel crisis
Yongker Rumthe, The Jakarta Post, Manado
The Talaud Young Generation Presidium (PGMT) said it would file a
lawsuit against state oil and gas giant Pertamina for allegedly
slashing the fuel supply to the Sangihe-Talaud regency from
February throughout October 2001 causing the recent fuel crisis
in the regency.
"We, along with our lawyers, are preparing a lawsuit to be
filed at the district court. We have evidence that the recent
fuel crisis in Talaud was caused by the large fuel cut by
Pertamina from February to October 2001," Charles Eda, chairman
of PGMT, told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday.
Charles added that Pertamina had also lied to the public about
PT Karya Maranatha's appointment as its sole distributor in the
province, which the oil and gas company claims was conducted in
accordance with official procedures.
"But, according to our investigation, Maranatha's appointment
was not in line with the official procedure of kerosene
distribution from Jakarta through Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi
to the province," he said.
Josua M. Batunan, secretary general of PGMT, said the recent
kerosene crisis in Talaud was caused by the reduction in the fuel
supply from 372 kiloliters per month to 160 kiloliters.
"Pertamina must be held accountable in court for the fuel
which was not distributed to Talaud," he said.
He said that the fuel crisis has cost billions of rupiah to
local people due to sharp price increases for kerosene to Rp
6,500 per liter from Rp 2,500.
The kerosene crisis promptly ended after the supply of
kerosene to the regency was raised to 372 kiloliters per month by
the end of last month.
M. Zaini, chief of Pertamina's North Sulawesi unit, declined
to comment on the planned lawsuit. "Sorry, I have no time, I'm
busy," he said.
Zaini has blamed local traders for the kerosene crisis, saying
they sold kerosene to Philippine partners and he also criticized
the security personnel for failing to enforce tight measures
against those smuggling the kerosene overseas.
Rudy Tatontos, president of Maranatha, admitted that he had
intentionally given his company's true data on the distribution
of kerosene to Talaud residents because of the deleterious
situation caused by the fuel crisis.
"We have given the data to PGMT to let the public know that
our company should not be blamed for this fuel crisis," he said.