he Papua Regional Legislative Council (DPR Papua) announced on Tuesday that it had established a working committee to supervise the implementation of the central government's newly launched one-price fuel policy, which aimed to set fuel prices in the country’s easternmost province on par with those in Java.
DPR Papua member Carolus Bolly of the Democratic Party said the committee, for example, would study the impacts of the policy on the prices of staple goods in the province.
“If product prices are still high after the implementation of the policy, we should find out the factors that cause it,” Carolus said on Tuesday.
Carolus also predicted that the policy, launched last month by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, would immediately reduce local transportation costs but would take longer to push down prices of other goods and services.
Under the new policy, people in Papua and West Papua can now buy Premium gasoline for Rp 6,450 (50 US cents) per liter, diesel for Rp 5,150 per liter and kerosene for Rp 2,500 per liter.
Fuel in the underdeveloped regions use to be sold for Rp 50,000 to 100,000 per liter before the government stepped in with the new policy.
The government, however, said it would not provide additional subsidies to state oil and gas company Pertamina to cover fuel transportation and distribution costs to the two provinces. (hwa)
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