Govt's audit on fuel imports not needed: Purnomo

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that the finance ministry's audit on Pertamina's fuel imports was not needed because the audit process could hamper the state oil and gas company's fuel import activities, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Wednesday.

"What the finance ministry should do is just to verify the fuel imports, and immediately disburse the needed subsidy if the price is above US$30 per barrel," he was quoted as saying.

According to him, Pertamina should submit its fuel import plan to the ministry of finance for verification and audit. The audit is needed to determine the amount of the subsidy that should be disbursed for the fuel imports.

He said that the long process of auditing and the delay in the disbursement of the subsidy has often caused a delay in the fuel imports. He cited that the shortage of fuel supply in several parts of countries particularly in Central and East Java during the past several days has caused by the delay in the subsidy disbursement.

Pertamina also blamed the delay in the subsidy as the main cause of the fuel supply shortages in these provinces. But Minister of Finance Jusuf Anwar said that the shortage of fuel supply was caused by the poor fuel supply management carried out by Pertamina.

"The finance ministry has disbursed the fuel subsidy to Pertamina. We should not therefore be blamed on the shortage of the fuel supply," he said.

Pertamina should import some part of the domestic fuel needs because the supply from the local refinery plants are not enough to meet the demand. (*)