TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The subsidized fuel smuggling and hoarding allegedly committed by Adj. First Insp. Labora Sitorus' company, Seno Adi Wijaya, starts to unveil. The National Police's Criminal Detectives Division Chief Comr. Gen. Sutarman stated that Sitorus sold subsidized fuel to businesses and gained profit from the price differences.
Sutarman said that Labora Sitorus owned a fuel company under the flag of the state oil company Pertamina and received a monthly quota of 300 tons. In addition, Labora also received fuel supply from other sources. "It's a legal [business]. He was working under a legal flag. But we found several fraudulent motives," said Sutarman at the Traffic Corps office on Tuesday, May 21.
He added that Labora gained profit from the price disparity of subsidized fuel for industries. For example, subsidized fuel price is originally set at Rp 4,500 (US$0.46) per liter and the price for industrial purposes is set at Rp 9,500 (US$0.97) per liter.
"There is a Rp 5,000 disparity. Fishermen are allowed to buy 100 liters of subsidized fuel. If they go out to sea, they will incur losses. Instead, they sell the fuel to a certain buyer for a Rp 2,000 profit. The buyer gained Rp 2,000 in profit while industries can save less than Rp 1,000. So, everyone's a winner,” Sutarman explained.
RUSMAN PARAQBUEQ
