Sunday, December 12, 2010

Reduction of Subsidized Fuel

The government is planning to reduce the sales of Subsidized Fuel starting 1 January 2011.

For which purpose, state owned petroleum company Pertamina will only sell subsidized fuel i.e Premium to public transportation.

Whereas, owners of private vehicles should use the more expensive non-subsidized fuel i.e. Pertamax.

However, Pertamina is currently not ready to supply enough Pertamax, therefore it must import the fuel.
 
Kompas reported that currently, Pertamina can only produce 200,000 kiloliters of Pertamax per day, which is not enough to meet the highly increasing domestic need.

Considering the above, I felt that the price differences between Premium and Pertamax, and Pertamina's inability to supply enough Pertamax, would create the existence of black market for the Subsidized Fuel.
Therefore, I hope that the government would carefully reconsider its decision.

Photo :  Courtesy of Kompas.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Harry,

There has to come a time when the government stops subsidizing fuel and starts making people pay a more realistic price for fuel.
The fact is it pushing for change is I hope a good thing and it just needs to sort Pertamina out and maybe open the fuel market more than them, Shell and Petronas and the odd Total.
Taxing fuel will can reap huge incomes for the country (if it gets put back into the country in a good way) and whilst I am not suggesting they get carried away like the British government (current price per litre is £1.27 or around 18,000 idr of which 95% is tax) and is making life very hard, the money it reaps is returned into the road network and services.
Tough decisions needs tough resolve and I can see ending fuel subsidies as a sign of change which must be embraced to protect the future and change peoples attitudes to the state.
For motorbike riders it is about an extra 2,000 for a full tank.
Perhaps change is in the air and I can only hope it will be for the better

Ferdinand said...

Hemmm... sebenernya aku termasuk yg gak setuju dengan wacana atau RUU tentang penghapusan BBM bersubsidi ini... menurutku lebih baik pemerintah menaikkan harganya dari pada memusnahkannya... takutnya banyak org yg nantinya malah beralih ke SPBU asing karena harganya yg gak beda jauh....

tapi apapun keputusan pemerintah aku tetap menghormati ...

Semangat N sukses slalu :P

maaf baru bisa berkunjung

TUKANG CoLoNG said...

saya ngeri banget lho kalo suatu saat nanti bensin di bumi ini habis

colson said...

The only conclusion after reading your entry is that the plan will create more problems than it can solve.

Though the idea of subsidizing public transport only, is appealing - it may in a small way discourage people to drive their own cars and take public transport in stead.

Aulawi Ahmad said...

I hope our goverment could considering again that regulation:(

hot selebritis said...

Nice article, thanksfor share
artis

dee said...

Thanks for sharing Harry Nizam! iya nich aq juga setuju ma Ferdinand.. meski BBM bersubsidi dihapuskan, semoga rakyat kecil tidak kesusahan manakala hrus beralih ke pertamax.

Unknown said...

Hi Luke,
The government's reason for reducing subsidy is that it wants to allocate the subsidy fund for other needs such us improve health and education services for the public. That would be fine.
But our experience shows that price differences would create black market especially if Pertamax is not enough.
Moreover the govt has let many people make money by using their private vehicles e.g motorcycles for Ojek, or pickup, or minibus for commercial use. If they are forced to change from Premium to Pertamax, thus Rp 2.000 more, they would surely raise their tariff. So in the end it would be the public who would have to pay.

@Ferdinand,
Masalahnya memang tidak mudah bagi Pemerintah karena subsidi sangat memberatkan anggaran negara dalam keadaan ekonomi yang sulit ini.

@TUKANG CoLoNG,
Mudah2an sebelum minyak bumis habis manusia dapat menemukan penggantinya.


@Colson,
The big problem is that even now the govt cannot provide good public transportation for all the people. Many people are forced to ride on train's rooftop because of not space available inside the train.

@Aulawi Ahmad,
Yes let us hope so.

@Hot Celebritis,
I am glad that you like this post.

@Deasy,
Mudah2an pemerintah memikirkan secara matang rencana ini agar tidak menimbulkan dampak yang tidak menguntungkan bagi rakyat.

hot selebritis said...

Nice article, thanks for share
grammar

Ria Tumimomor said...

I seriously doubt they have any good intention for this new rule :(

Jolly Princess said...

Black marketing could possibly occur in this situation. But I believed your government must have realized that possibility. And who knows they had already assigned someone to oversee when the situation arises.

julicavero said...

wah menurut saya ini tetap akan menjadi polemik di masyarakat..penghapusan BBM bersubsidi dinilai tidak memihak rakyat kecil

Unknown said...

@Hot Selebritis,
Thanks, I am glad that you like it.

@Ria/The Dream Catcher,
I'd rather be positive and face the fact that our country is to allocate the subsidy fund for the benefit of more people. In this case the implementation should be watched.

@JP,
I also think so, only that the implementation should be done
very carefully.

@Julicavero,
Memang demikian. Kalaupun terpaksa pelaksanaannya harus hati-hati dan mempertibangkan segala aspek.

ngoceh said...

kenapa pemerintah kita selalu pada posisi "tak terhindari lagi". Efek domino dari kenaikan ini kan luas. Pusyin..g.

Unknown said...

Ngoceh,
Sulit untuk menilai sikap pemerintah saat ini. Seringkali membingungkan!