T

housands of fishermen in Cilacap, Central Java, have for the past week been forced to remain at port due to a scarcity in diesel fuel supplies for their ships in the region.

The shortage is linked to a 50 percent decrease in diesel fuel supplies to the areas by the state oil and gas company PT Pertamina Cilacap. Fisherman blamed a fire last week at one of the company's refineries as the cause of this shortage.

"We don't know why *there is a scarcity*, but it's probably because of the damage caused by the fire at the Pertamina Cilacap refinery," chairman of the Association of Indonesian Fishermen (HNSI) Cilacap branch, Atas Munandar, said in Cilacap on Wednesday.

A fire destroyed a crude distillation unit at the company's refinery in Cilacap last week.

Consequently, there was a reported 30 percent decrease in the normal production levels of kerosene and diesel.

Chrisna Damayanto, General Manager of PT Pertamina Cilacap, said the company had two fuel operating complexes (FOC). Together, the FOCs can produce up to 70 percent of the total 350,000 barrel capacity everyday, the biggest production rate in the country. "If the impact of the fire was the cause, then we are asking that Pertamina guarantee that fires will not interrupt fuel supply *in the future*," Atas said.

Head of the company's public relation division, Kurdi Susanto, said late payments by local gas stations for their diesel deliveries could be behind the shortage in Cilacap. The sales area manager in Tegal has been made aware of the matter, he said, as they are responsible for fuel distribution in Central Java. The manager reportedly found that there was no supply limitation enforced by Pertamina for the region.

"There is no problem with the distribution, or the supply of diesel fuel, including for fishermen in Cilacap," Kurdi said.

The damaged refinery was repaired and ready for production, he said, but has currently not been switched on. "We are sure it will be back to normal again and ready for production within a few days," said Kurdi .

He declined to further elaborate on when exactly the refinery would be ready to produce fuel again.

Separately, chairman of the Cilacap village unit cooperatives KUD Mino Saroyo, Untung Jayanto, urged PT Pertamina Cilacap to increase the supply of subsidized diesel fuel by at least 568 tons a month to help restore normal conditions to the region.

He said at optimal levels, the regency required around 1,200 tons of diesel fuel per month just to meet the need of fishing ships weighing over 300 gross tons (GT).

The supply is currently just over 630 tons annually.