T

housands of tobacco farmers on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, are facing the prospect of losing their harvest this year because kerosene required for processing their crop has not yet arrived.

West Nusa Tenggara Governor Zainul Majdi held a special meeting Thursday to discuss the issue with provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Surya Iskandar, Mataram Pertamina depot head Mochammad Suherman and delegates representing the tobacco farmers affected in the region.

The chairman of the West Nusa Tenggara branch of the Indonesian Tobacco Farmers Association (APTI), Lalu Hatman, told The Jakarta Post following the meeting that the harvest season normally begins in mid-June, but because the kerosene used to fire ovens for drying the tobacco had not arrived, the farmers were forced to leave the crop and wait.

"Farmers are confused. If they harvest their crops and don't dry them, they will be destroyed. So they left them despite the fact the harvest season has begun," he said.

Lombok Island is home to around 14,000 ovens (locally called omprongan), Lalu said, most of which are found in East Lombok regency.

Each oven requires at least 4,000 liters of kerosene throughout harvest season.

Provincial spokesman Andi Hadiyanto said during the meeting, Governor Zainul Majdi emphasized three points to address the kerosene shortage.

"Firstly, revise the database on the exact number of farmers who own ovens. Secondly, the provincial administration should request for police assistance to oversee the distribution of fuel, and finally legal action should be taken against those involved in the late distribution," Andi said.

The central government initially stopped providing its kerosene subsidy for tobacco farmers, he said, but the provincial administration asked the government to review its decision and they then reinforced the subsidy.

Now, subsidies are provided by the government for 30,000 tons of kerosene for 7,500 farmers in Lombok, which meets the needs for all farmers and their ovens.

PT Migas Mitra Tani (MMT), appointed by the provincial administration as the sole kerosene distributor, blamed the provincial administration for mismanaging the supply of kerosene.

MMT director I Ketut Bagiada said his company had so far distributed kerosene to around 14,000 tobacco farmers in possession of a control card, which were issued to farmers in 2005. Each card holder is entitled to 400 liters of kerosene.

"We have not yet received data on the number of ovens which have been converted into coal ovens, so we stick to the old quota of 14,000 liters," he said.

Bagiada said MMT had distributed around 3,600 tons of kerosene to about 1,600 farmers since June.

"We had to stop distribution because of this problem but will resume supply if the database is updated," he said.

The delay has also affected the retail price of household kerosene because those wishing to dry tobacco bought out all the regular domestic supply.