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Severe fuel crisis hits cities in Sumatra
An ambulance on its way to transport a deceased body and relatives from Medan to Balige finally was able to refuel in Parapat
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n ambulance on its way to transport a deceased body and relatives from Medan to Balige finally was able to refuel in Parapat.
The driver Suparman, however, was dismayed because he would not able to reach the destination town in Toba Samosir regency because he was not able to refuel in the previous town of Pematang Siantar.
“Many gas stations in the town are closed because they have run out of supply. Many others have only
either gasoline or diesel. The irony is that motorists and individuals with their jerrycans have to race in a long queue in several gas stations to get their turn,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Anggiat Panjaitan, who, along his wife and children brought his deceased father by air from Jakarta to his home village in Balige through Medan, condemned the SBY government and the state-owned Pertamina for the fuel crisis, which he said had happened in the past few weeks, but no major measures had been taken to cope with the problem.
Besides the ambulance, a bus carrying Malaysian and Singaporean tourists to Sibolga in Central
Tapanuli regency, also had to stay a night in Parapat, a tourist resort, for refueling the next day.
Fuel crisis hit elsewhere. Antara reported prices of full-bottled (under a liter) gasoline reached Rp 15,000 (US$1.77) in several parts in East Kalimantan.
The police nabbed a suspect alleged of hoarding fuel in Bengkulu, while in Lampung, the local administration moved to restrict the purchase of gasoline by commercial buyers from gas stations.
Kaban Sirait, a supervisor of a gas station in Parapat, said that due to limited supply from Pertamina, fuel was available between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. almost every day. “The fuel stock runs short very quickly because we have to serve not only cars, buses and vehicles, but also fishermen and shipowners buying fuel with jerrycans,” he said.
Most gas stations located along the Trans-Sumatra highways have been closed for several days with a front pamphlet posted reading “diesel oil and gasoline run out”.
At the open stations, where supply was still available, cars, buses and trucks were seen lining up in long queues, which caused traffic jams along the highway leading to the gas stations.
Many travelers had to spend their night at the gas stations for fear of not receiving fuel at the next gas station.
Although many gas stations were closed and had no more supply, many gas vendors near the gas stations were found to offer fuel with the skyrocketing price of between Rp 6,000 and Rp 10,000 per liter. The normal price of gasoline is Rp 4,500 per liter.
Running on fumes: “No fuel” signs are placed at a gas station in Medan, North Sumatra, on Sunday. Several areas in Sumatra face acute shortages of fuel. JP/Apriadi Gunawan
Gas station authorities seemed to have no choice but to serve the vendors with the supply for fears of public anger.
Satiri, a female gas station attendant in Bagan Batu, said that her gas stations had to serve local traders and speculators to avoid any public anger, although the buyers were required to pay an additional Rp 5,000 for every jerrycan of fuel.
“We have to pursue them because they call themselves fishermen, although we receive information that they supply the fuel to plantation companies and wood industries in surrounding areas,” said Sutikno, another gas station attendant in Banyulincir, South Sumatra.
A Pertamina official in Medan said the company had increased the supply to tackle the problem and planned to become tougher on commercial buyers.
“If the increased supply cannot ease the crisis, the government and the police should closely monitor the fuel distribution in all gas stations to make sure the subsidized fuel reaches the consumers and does not fall into the hands of speculators and industries,” said assistant to the Pertamina’s internal relations manager in Medan, Fitri Erika.
According to her, the province has its quota of 1.3 million liters of gasoline and one million liters of diesel per day.
Pertamina was said to have stopped supply of fuel to 14 gas stations found guilty of selling fuel to buyers with jerrycans.
