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Indonesia Hit By Panic Over Fuel Prices

Posted on: Thursday, 29 September 2005, 09:00 CDT

Text of report in English by Indonesian newspaper The Jakarta Post website on 29 September

As the country braces for more street protests and panic buying ahead of the fuel price increase on 1 October, the fuel scarcity created long lines on Wednesday [28 September] at filling stations and kerosene distributors nationwide.

In Bandar Lampung [Sumatra], the increased price of kerosene from 800 to 2,000 rupiah per litre made the three-day wait for fuel - which the nation's poorest people use for cooking - all the more frustrating. Moreover, a purchase of five litres was the most a family could hope for. Several small-scale industries have reportedly switched from using kerosene to diesel fuel.

In some areas, like Way Kanan district, the price of kerosene had surpassed that of Premium gasoline at 3,000 rupiah per litre. Ruslan, a kerosene agent in Bandar Lampung, said he let customers deposit their empty containers with him out of pity. He said he usually received 5,000 litres of kerosene every three days but, over the last month, he received it once a week.

"Now we only get the supply once a week, on Saturdays, so it's not enough for all residents," said Ruslan.

In Harapanjaya subdistrict, a 200-litre supply of kerosene was quickly sold. "Once the kerosene supply arrives, customers storm in and it's gone within an hour," said Husin, the trader.

In Lempasing, South Lampung, residents competed against fishermen who are now powering their boats with kerosene, while in Kotakarang subdistrict in Bandar Lampung, kerosene was hard to come by as retailers preferred to sell it to fishermen at higher prices.

Head of state oil company Pertamina in Lampung, Amilin Ali, blamed the kerosene scarcity on panic buying ahead of the imminent fuel price increases. Currently, he said, the company had a three- day supply of 2,700 kl of Premium gasoline, 4,400 kl of kerosene for six days and 17,400 kl of diesel oil for 11 days. "Although the supply is counted on a daily basis, two tankers provide a fresh fuel supply everyday," Amilin said.

Long queues were observed at gas stations across the country, including in Semarang [Central Java], Surakarta and surrounding cities like Salatiga and Magelang, as many motorists had to wait for hours to get gasoline.

At Tanjung Emas harbour in Semarang, tanker MT Sinar Yogya unloaded 24,000 kl of Premium gasoline on Tuesday.

"We hope the arrival can help with the fuel shortages at several gas stations in Semarang," Pertamina's spokesperson in Semarang, Heppy Wulansari, said on Wednesday.

Several gas stations, including in the North Sulawesi town of Manado, had run out of gas on Wednesday, while in the East Java town of Kediri, several stations had set a five-litre limit on sales to prevent stockpiling ahead of the fuel price increases.

"We support the move (to set a five-litre limit) as it makes it easier to control," Kediri Police chief Assistant Commissioner Suyono, told Antara.

In Yogyakarta, the scarcity has pushed the price of Premium gasoline up to 7,500 rupiah per litre at retailers.

Although the government is yet to officially announce the new fuel prices, the prices of some basic goods have started to rise.

In Jambi, garlic was priced at 8,000 rupiah per kg, from the previous 7,000, while chillies were 10,000 rupiah from the earlier 7,000 rupiah a kg. A trader, Umar, said on Wednesday he had to increase prices since his merchandise came from outside Jambi, such as West Sumatra, meaning high transportation costs due to fuel consumption. "We have to raise prices in order not to lose money," Umar said.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

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