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.