GOVT WARNED TO WATCH FOR FUEL HOARDERS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 31 (ANTARA) - Even though the government has delayed its plan to raise fuel oil prices on April 1, 2012, fuel oil hoarding cases still continue to take place in various parts of the country.          Police in East Java and in West Sumatra, for example, said on Saturday they had uncovered numerous cases and arrested fuel hoarders. Further, police seized 1.2 tons of subsidized premium gasoline and arrested suspects in Surabaya and in West Sumatra.          Also, West Sumatra Police have uncovered eight cases of fuel oil hoarding, according to  West Sumatra Regional Police Spokesman Adjunct Senior Commissioner Mainar Sugainto. The police have taken into custody 18 suspects who were in possession of the fuel oil along with the drivers of trucks transporting the hoarded fuel.          Therefore, workers organizations have warned the government of the possibility of speculators hoarding fuel after the House issued a decision that allows the government to increase fuel oil prices, its secretary general said.          Secretary General of the All Indonesian Workers Association (OPSI) Timboel Siregar said  on Saturday that following the House of Representatives (DPR)'s decision to insert a clause in the Revised 2012 Budget Law, cases of subsidized fuel oil hoarding were expected to increase.           The DPR on Friday held a plenary session to consider a government proposal to raise fuel oil prices on April 1, 2012. The House voted to insert a 6a clause in Article 7 of the 2012 Revised Budget, which gives the government the authority to make price adjustments, or price increases, if the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) increased or fell by 15 percent during the current six months from the assumed price in the state budget.          "This will obviously trigger acts of hoarding because speculators will wait, since prices will increase after six months and this will create a disadvantage for the people," Siregar said.          So far, fuel oil hoarding has been occurring. Banjarmasin police in South Kalimantan province confiscated two tons of diesel oil and premium gasoline in Banjarmasin city, the South Kalimantan provincial capital.  Police also received reports on the hoarding of thousands of liters of fuel oil from local residents who have become uneasy due to the activity of three hoarders who had already been arrested by the Banjarmasin police.          In the meantime, local police closed a premium, oil and diesel fuel distribution agent (APMS) in Siak district of Riau province for allegedly hoarding gasoline before the government's plan to raise national fuel price had been enacted.          "We have closed the fuel distribution agent for further investigation," said local police spokesperson Adjunct Commissioner R Simamora.          Earlier, police had conducted surveillance of the hoarding of subsidized fuel, using a boat in Masjid Gulf at Sungai Apit sub-district, Siak.  From the surveillance, police arrested two suspects, identified as AI and AB. In that raid police also confiscated 23 tons of government's subsidized fuel expected to be hoarded, which consists of 13 tons of diesel fuel and 10 tons of gasoline.          Additionally, police seized a fuel container ship, a wooden barge unit, and five fuel pumps.          Police in Bojong Gede south of Jakarta have also arrested a 65-year-old man, identified by his initials as GM, on charges of hoarding 3,400 liters of subsidized fuel.          GM was being held at the Bojong Gede police precinct's cell, chief of the Depok police resort Snr Comr Mulyadi Kaharni said.  Police also confiscated 3,400 liters of gasoline from GM at his house in Sasak Panjang village, Bogor district, West Java.          Actually, state oil company PT Pertamina (Persero) has anticipated subsidized fuel oil hoarding in connection with the government's April 1, 2012 fuel oil plan.          Pertamina's spokesman Harun said he had coordinated with the upstream oil and gas coordinating company (BPH Migas), along with police and regional administrations, to prevent hoarding of subsidized fuel oil.          "Hoarding not only harms subsidized fuel oil consumers, but is also risky to the safety of the environment because fuel oil is inflammable," he said.          He added that Pertamina has also called on the Association of National Oil and Gas Entrepreneurs (Hiswana Migas), as owners of public fuel oil filling stations (SPBU), to tighten the channeling and distribution of subsidized fuel oil, including forbidding the sale of subsidized fuel oil by using jerry cans except for people living far from the filling stations and having written authorization from the police and local administrations.          Officials anticipate that hoarding should be expected since fuel oil consumption in January-February 2012 will reach 12 percent above consumption in the same period last year. The distribution of fuel oil in the first two months of 2012 reached 7.02 million kiloliters, or 18.79 percent of Pertamina's quota in the 2012 State Budget. This is 755,000 kiloliters higher than in the same period last year, reaching 6.26 million kiloliters.          Despite the fact that Pertamina has taken preventative steps, hoarding of fuel oil still took place in various parts of the country. Therefore, the government has stressed that it will take firm action against hoarders.          Further, Vice President Boediono has said the government will act against those hoarding fuel, as it has done in other regions. "The government will surely enforce the law to safeguard the use of fuel oils based upon their initial purposes," the vice president said.           The vice president admitted that in the run-up to the planned fuel oil price hikes certain parties had hoarded fuel oils to illegally benefit from the planned price increase.          According to Boediono, the amount of fuel hoarded is not small and a certain amount of fuel often 'disappeared' during delivery to fuel oil stations or during trips to the sea.          "There are many illegal ways to earn personal benefits and I agree, if the actors are sanctioned based upon the law," he stressed.***2*** (T.A014/a/INE/a014) 31-03-2012 20:45: