Consumer group vows to continue fight against Pertamina
Thursday, September 7 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
A consumer grouping called LPKIK vowed to continue fight against the state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina for its failure to prevent a recent fuel shortage problem in Samarinda and other parts in the area, according to the grouping's executive Syamsuddin.
LPKIK had filed a legal suit against Pertamina at the Samarinda Court. LPKIK demanded Pertamina to pay more than Rp 1 billion (US$1=Rp 8,300).
Syamsuddin was quoted by the local Kaltim Post daily as saying that the case would be the first to test how the provincial court honor the country's consumer protection law.
"Our mission is to protect consumers and to be able to implement the consumer protection law consistently ? This will be the first test for the judges in East Kalimantan. We will continue to fight," Syamsuddin said.
East Kalimantan had been recently hit by wave of fuel shortage. There has been speculation that some people had been pilling up fuel products in the run to the planned increase in the price of the product in October. Many also lambasted Pertamina for the massive smuggling of fuel products out of East Kalimantan to neighboring countries. (*)