TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A number of luxury cars were seen queueing to buy subsidized diesel (also known as Solar) at a gas station on Jl. Harapan Raya in Pekanbaru, Riau. Some of the vehicles include Toyota Fortuners and Mitsubishi Pajeros, which cost more that Rp 400 million per unit.
"They get angry if we refuse to serve them," said an attendant at the gas station.
There were also a number of government cars with red registration plates queuing for Solar along with tens of trucks at the gas station.
"We have no choice but to wait in such a long queue, otherwise we wouldn't be able to purchase Solar," said Anto, a truck driver delivering construction materials.
Long queues for Solar has been observed since early this morning, and queues have gotten so long that it has started to impact traffic flow around the gas station.
No security officials and/or police were present to assist attendants to manage the queues, and the vehicular overflow queue has joined the main road, causing a massive traffic jam in front of the gas station.
Twenty one out of 134 gas stations in Riau Province have been affected by the recent restriction on the distribution and sales of subsidised fuel by Pertamina.
"Subsidised Solar, or bio-solar can only be purchased between 08:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. [Western Indonesia Time]," said Ardyan Adhitia, Pertamina's Marketing Branch Manager for Riau and West Sumatra.
The 21 affected gas stations are spread out across seven districts out of the 12 districts in Riau, five in Rokan Hulu, four in Indragiri Hilir, three in Dumai, Indragiri Hulu, and Kampar, two in Kuantan Singingi district, and one in Rokan Hilir.
Similar restrictions for the city of Pekanbaru, Pelalawan and Meranti Islands districts will take effect when the next phase of the restriction is put in place.
ANTARANEWS
