Tarakan Mayor accused of fuel smuggling

Tarakan Mayor Yusuf Serang Kasim in East Kalimantan have been accused of smuggling heavily subsidized fuel to neighboring Malaysia, the local Kaltim Post daily reported Saturday.

The paper said that the provincial Attorney General?s Office had launched an investigation into the allegation.

The paper did not clearly said who made the allegation, but it said that the mayor had used local cooperatives unit to obtain the subsidized fuel from the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina.

The paper said that the cooperatives called had been smuggling some 1,000 tons of fuel per week to Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Yusuf denied the allegation. ?Please, go ahead and investigate me.?

Indonesia?s subsidized fuel had been the target of smugglers to make hefty profit. The smugglers include government or military official, experts have said.

The country is struggling to reduce subsidy on the politically sensitive commodity in a bid to curb fuel smuggling. It has been projected that by 2004, fuel would no longer be subsidized.

The fuel subsidy had also caused heavy burden to the state budget.(*)