Balongan allegedly uses second hand machinery

The breakdown in the Balongan oil refinery is allegedly caused by the below-par machinery used in the refinery plant. Those who built the refinery were allegedly used second-hand machinery for the plant.

That was not a new allegation, though. Then minister of mines and energy I.B. Sudjana used to level similar accusations. He even uncovered allegations of corruption, collusion and nepotism practices in the construction of the Balongan refinery plant.

When the plant was about to be inaugurated by then president Soeharto, the plant was not functioning properly, and the inauguration ceremony was postponed for three months.

The Balongan refinery was a source of discontent both for the people and for the political elites. When the Balongan plant was down, the people suffered fuel scarcity, and the political elites, especially those involved in the projects, were all put in hot water as old accusations against them would likely emerge.

The director of processing at state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, Arifin Nawawi, said machinery in Balongan plant could not be forced to operate at its maximum capacity. And the current breakdown, he said, was partly caused by such a forced full operation of the machinery.

He said that mean air glomer, one of most important components, was currently not functioning properly, and therefore, the Balongan plant was shut down so that the mean air glomer could be repaired.

Arifin said that Pertamina was currently looking for an opportunity to build another refinery plant to prevent another fuel scarcity. And the plant would likely be built in East Java because the area currently consumed a large amount of fuels. (*)