Bridge project over Siak river may affect fuel distribution in Riau

Pertamina said that the planned construction of a bridge over the Siak river in Riau may affect the distribution of the fuel in the province because, if continued, the bridge will hamper the shipment of crude oil to the company's refinery plant in Dumai, Suara Karya reported on Monday.

"If Riau government will not increase the height of the bridge to at least 30 meters from 23 meters as initially planned, Pertamina would no longer able to use its tankers to ship its crude oil from several oil fields in the province to the Dumai refinery plant," Mustiko Saleh, the vice president of Pertamina said in Jakarta on Saturday. "Consequently, we have to use smaller ships, and this will result in the increase in the shipment cost," he added.

The Siak river plays an important role in the province's transportation system. Pertamina, and other companies have for years used the river to transport their production and raw materials.

The local government is currently preparing the construction of a bridge with the height of 23 meters over the river as part of the expansion of the transportation system in the province. However, the users of river said that the bridge would be too low. They have urged the local government to increase the height of the bridge but to no avail. (*)