Cheap Fuel Makes People Lazy, says Minister
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Minggu, 2 November 2014 10:36 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) minister Sudirman Said claimed that low fuel prices could cause people to be lazy and reluctant to get out of their comfort zone.
“President Jokowi is doing a tough job because he’s pushing people to be out of their comfort zone,” Sudirman said in a discussion about energy resilience on Saturday, November 1, 2014.
According to Sudirman, public is unaware that subsidy caused fuel selling prices lower than the market price. As a result, fuel consumption continues to rise, increasing fuel imports.
“It causes our dependence on imports. [We] don’t want to do something about it and we feel comfortable with the current condition,” he said.
Sudirman explained that fuel import rise was not balanced with national productivity since most Pertamina’s oil refineries are over 30 years old.
“We can only have low added value products. We have to rely on imports to have high-quality products,” Sudirman added.
Sudirman hopes that public could understand the government’s plan to increase fuel prices as the policy would boost national economic growth.
JAYADI SUPRIADIN
