Government not serious in handling gas shortage in Aceh

Members of the House of Representatives (DPR) criticized the government for the lack of commitment to cope with the shortage of gas supply to fertilizer and paper craft producers in Aceh, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday.

Ahmad Farhan Hamid, the chairman of the Reformasi Commission at the DPR, said in Jakarta on Wednesday that fertilizer producer PT Asean Aceh Fertilizer and craft paper producer PT Kertas Kraft Aceh were still unable to operate due the lack of the gas supply.

Meanwhile the gas supply to state owned fertilizer produder PT Pupup Iskandar Muda (PIM) was only enough to feed one of the company’s two fertilizer plants, he added.

“This situation indicates that inability of the government to cope with the gas problem in Aceh,” he said.

ExxonMobil, the only producer of gas in Aceh, has cut its gas supply to PT Asean Aceh Fertilizer and PT Kerttas Krfat and PT PIM because its gas production is only enough to meet PT Arun’s LNG export commitment to Japan and South Korea.

“If the government is able to reschedule 10 percent of the LNG export commitment to Japan, the gas shortage problem could be settled,” he said, adding that DPR speaker Akbar Tanjung had sent a letter to President Megawati asking the government to take more serious efforts in handling the gas shortage. (*)