House suspects political scenario behind fuel shortage

Political analyst and outspoken member of the House of Representatives Pramono Agung suspects the fuel shortage, which hit Jakarta and some parts of East Java and Bali, is part of a political scenario engineered by some parties to further destabilize the country's shaken security condition.

Pramono told Media Indonesia that he believed there was a "grand design" behind the fuel shortage. He said that the first exercise was carried out in Surabaya during the National Sports Week two weeks ago but the impact was not so significant.

According to him, the fuel shortage in the past few days could be linked to the questioning of former president Soeharto on 10 August and the annual meeting of the People's General Assembly (MPR) in 20 August.

He acknowledged that the breaking down of the Balongan oil refinery contributed to the crisis but according to him the impact of the refinery stoppage was not so significant. "When the Balangon refinery broke down, why the fuel crisis first hit East Java and Bali, not West Java? rationally, West Java, which hosts the refinery plant should be the first to feel the affect of the supply shortage," said Pramono, the secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan).

Pramono said that the parties which were involved in engineering the oil crisis began their work with some insiders in Pertamina, which had become the target of corruption and collusion practices or KKN for decades during the Soeharto era. He suspected senior officials at the state oil and gas company's Domestic Sales Department was involved. The director of the department Harry Poernomo should be resigned and Pertamina president should replace him with a man who has no links at all with the old regime, he said.

Harry was not available for comment while Pertamina spokesman Ramli Djaffar refused to say any thing about the charge.

The fuel supply has gradually returned to normal. The long lines of motorists waiting for gasoline at stations were no longer seen on Thursday. According to Pertamina, the fuel supply for the capital is normal again after repairs were made on the Balongan refinery in West Java. But media reports said that the fuel shortage still hit some parts of East Java despite the resumption of the refinery operation. (*)