Tarakan sends letters to President to takeover Pertamina role

The Tarakan mayoralty administration in East Kalimantan has sent 17 letters to President Abdurrahman Wahid asking the central government to allow local regency/mayoralty administrations to fully take over the fuel distribution role in their respective areas from the state-owned oil and gas monopoly Pertamina.

The Kaltim Post daily said that the Tarakan administration had also sent a letter to the House of Representatives to review the Law No. 8/1974 on the marketing and distribution of fuel products.

?The letters to the President were sent a few months ago, but there have been no serious response yet. But we?ll try hard because we have been determined to have access in fuel distribution to allow the people to obtain fuel easily,? said Tarakan administration spokesman Muhammad Yunus Abbas.

The Tarakan area and other parts of the oil and gas-rich East Kalimantan province has often been hit by fuel shortage creating long queue for kerosene or gasoline.

Experts have said that the fuel shortage has been primarily caused by massive fuel smuggling of the country?s heavily-subsidized fuel products.

Elsewhere, Yunus dismissed allegations that Tarakan Yusuf Serang Kasim had been involved in fuel smuggling activity. He said that this was merely a cheap campaign made by those people who do not want to see the Tarakan administration to have access in fuel distribution.(*)