They alleged that the regulation which was put into force on March 1, 2013 had led to the scarcity of the fuel.
A number of gas stations in Batam city, Riau Islands province, again ran out of subsidized diesel oil at the weekend although diesel oil shortage in the industrialized city early March could be overcome.
"The subsidized diesel oil supply is exhausted. We have not yet received supply from state oil and gas firm Pertamina. Maybe this evening there will be supply," an officer of Top 100 gas station at Batuaji in Batam, Heryana said on Saturday (March 30).
He said almost every evening to morning the gas station ran out of diesel oil supply.
A long queue for subsidized diesel oil was also seen at a gas station next to the Pertamina office in Batam at the weekend after a number of gas stations ran out of subsidized diesel oil supply.
"There has been a queue since this morning. Several gas stations are running out of supply so all have come here," truck driver Setiawan said.
PT Pertamina sales area manager for the Riau Islands province I Ketut Permadi said earlier the quota of subsidized diesel oil for the region this year fell 4 percent to 141,954.24 kiloliters from 147,864 kiloliters the year before.
The scarcity of subsidized diesel oil has forced hundreds of fishermen in Pekalongan district, Central Java, to cease sailing activities for the past week.
"Whenever I will go sailing we need at least 16 tons of diesel oil. But since the diesel oil supply is exhausted we are forced to drop anchor," local fisherman Darmuji said on Thursday (March 28).
Chief of the All-Indonesia Fishermen Association (HNSI) chapter in Pekalongan district Wiranto said fishermen`s gas station (SPBN) in the area received daily allotment of 688 kiloliters.
But because of the subsidized diesel oil scarcity many fishermen bought diesel oil in excess of capacity, leading diesel oil supply at the gas station to run out quickly, he said.
"Under normal condition each boat queueing at the SPBN needs an average of 25 tons of diesel oil. But because of the diesel oil scarcity the fishing boats have to queue for a few days and drop anchor as a result," he said.
According to him, the diesel oil scarcity over the past week had prompted fishermen and industries to buy diesel oil in large quantities for fear that they would run out of the fuel.
In Magelang, Central Java, a number of gas stations have restricted the purchase of subsidized diesel oil by motor vehicles of four wheels or more to between Rp100 thousand and Rp200 thousand.
"Because of reduced quota we are forced to restrict the purchase of diesel oil to a maximum of Rp100 thousand for a private car or truck and a maximum of Rp200 thousand for a public transport vehicle such as bus," gas station supervisor Okta Kurniawan said in Magelang on Thursday (March 28).
The diesel oil shortage is also taking its toll on a number of small scale industries in Gunung Kidul district, Yogyakarta province, with some of them ceasing activities.
"If the scarcity of subsidized diesel oil drags on, as small and medium scale businessmen we will go bankrupt," rice mill owner Rubiman at Putat village in Gunung Kidul district said on Wednesday (March 27).
He said he had not found diesel oil over the past few days. "Diesel oil has become scarce over the past few days. I have queued for diesel oil at a number of gas stations," he said.
He said he needed 10 liters of diesel oil every day. But on Wednesday (March 27), he only got 7 liters of diesel oil from a retailer.
"I and my son had tried to find diesel oil but to no avail. Since the morning I had been awaiting at the gas station but did not find it," he said.
In Padang, West Sumatra, the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) has expressed concern about diesel oil scarcity in the province in the past month, demanding that the local authorities take a concrete step to deal with it.
The West Sumatra governor and provincial legislative council must work closely to prevent the scarcity from dragging on, the chief of the YLKI chapter in Padang, Dahnil Aswad said.
At its discussion with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), the three organizations agreed that different interpretation of the energy and mineral resources minister`s regulation number 01 of 2013 on the control of diesel oil consumption was to blame for the scarcity, he said.
Article 6 sub-article 1 of the regulation stipulates that motor vehicles of four wheels or more used to transport plantation, mining and forestry products must use non-subsidized diesel oil, he said.
But under sub-article 2, the ban does not apply to motor vehicles used to transport commodities from smallholder plantation, mining and forestry businesses, he said.
Therefore, he added the foundation expected the governor and legislative council to take a concrete step to deal with the scarcity by asking the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to raise quota.
The move is important to give certainty to the public in carrying out economic activities as well as to determine who are entitled to buy subsidized and non-subsidized diesel oil, he said.
(S012/O001)
Reporter: Suharto
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
