TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Subsidized fuel is becoming increasingly harder to find in So'e district, in Central-South Timor regency in East Nusa Tenggara. Massive queues of vehicles occured at two gas stations in the area since Thursday, November 6, 2014.
Queues are evident in Oelpuah district gas station and Kilometer 3 gas station. In Oelpuah, more than 100 vehicles are queueing for fuel, and similar queues also took place at Kilometer 3—triggering congestion around the location.
"Rumors about the price hike has caused some sort of a panic among residents, who immediately raced towards the gas stations," said the village chief of Oebaki in Noebaba sub-district, Lodovikus Fallo.
Motorists were seen queueing along and behind residents who came bearing jerry-cans to purchase Premium and Solar—brands of subsidized fuels marketed by state oil and gas company, Pertamina. Locals have been suspected of hoarding fuel with an intent to sell it later for around Rp20,000 per litre, far above Pertamina's prices.
Pertamina's sales manager for East Nusa Tenggara, Ronny Anthoko, said supplies to both gas station remains normal. He added fuel reserves are restocked daily, with 60 kiloliters of Premium and 40 kiloliters of Solar allocated for each gas station from Kupang. "Reserves are sufficient, but residents are panicking out of fear of shortage, which drives them to unnecessarily hoard fuels," explained Ronny.
It is known that fresh fuel reserves to Central-South Timor are often delayed because of its distance from Kupang. It takes around three hours for the fuel to arrive in the area from Kupang, which is 110 kilometres away.
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