Fertilizer companies prioritized to get gas

Minister of State Enterprises Mustafa Abubakar said that state fertilizer companies should be given a priority to receive gas supply due to the specific nature of their operations, Media Indonesia reported Friday.

Speaking in Jakarta on Thursday, the minister said that unlike other companies, an interruption in the gas supply would result in the immediate closure of fertilizer companies.

?With the specific nature of their operations, the fertilizer companies deserve to get a priority to get gas supply,? he said, adding that of the country?s state fertilizer firms, only PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur in East Kalimantan had secured a long term contract of gas supply.

According to him, the government is still negotiating to get a long-term gas supply for the other state fertilizer companies, that is Pusri in Palembang, South Sumatra; Kujang in West Java, Petrokimia Gresik in East Java and Pupuk Iskandar Muda in Aceh.

?The government is preparing a presidential regulation on the revitalization of fertilizer companies which will among others regulate their gas supply,? he added.

Separately, Deputy Minister of Industry Alex Retraubun said the office had been asked to solve problems relatd to gas supplies to sugar and fertilizer companies within three months. ?The President said the gas problem faced by the industries should be solved in three months," he said. (*)