Responding To Pertalite's Substitution To Bioethenol, Member Of Commission VII: Must Be Discussed With The DPR

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VII DPR RI Mulyanto responded to the leaked information from Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan which stated that Pertamina would replace Petalite type fuel oil (BBM) with Bioethenol.

Mulyanto considered that the statement was inappropriate. The reason is, Pertamina does not have the authority to replace the assignment fuel with other types before being discussed with the DPR.

Mulyanto continued, Pertamina only acts as an operator carrying out an assignment from the government to distribute the fuel to the public.

Thus, Pertamina cannot arbitrarily delete or replace Pertalite with Bioethenol or other types of fuel.

"This is the authority of the government. Because it is related to subsidized fuel, both types, numbers, prices and distribution areas, it is determined by the government through discussions with the DPR," said Mulyanto, Monday, May 6.

According to him, the plan must first be discussed on how much the quota for the assignment is per year, how much per liter is, how much is the rupiah per liter subsidy, and to what extent is the distribution area.

"This is important so that the replacement of the type of fuel assignment really does not harm the community or does not burden the community with expensive fuel," continued Mulyanto.

Moreover, he said, it is estimated that the price per liter of Bioethenol fuel will be above Pertamax 92.

"Pertamina cannot just replace Pertalite fuel like what Pak Luhut said," he added.

Mulyanto felt there was an oddity related to the policy plan to change Pertalite with mixed fuel bioethenol. Because domestic bioethenol production is still limited.

So it is very likely that these materials will be imported from other countries for production purposes.

"In the end, the country's foreign exchange is sucked out again. Cook we want to import bioethenol and depend more on foreign countries," he said.

For information, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, leaked oil fuel (BBM) to replace Pertalite.

According to Luhut, PT Pertamina plans to remove Pertalite fuel this year.

He said the government's ambition to mix fuel oil, or fossil fuels with growing juice, or become bioethenol aims to suppress the use of raw materials from fossil oil.