Fire Vulnerable, Member Of Commission VII Asks Pertamina To Increase Audit And Refinery Care

JAKARTA - Following the fire incident at the Crude DistILLation Unit IV (CDU), Pertamina Balikpapan Refinery, East Kalimantan on Saturday, May 25, Member of Commission VII DPR RI from the PKS faction Mulyanto demanded Pertamina to take good care of its refineries, as part of the refinery risk management.

"Don't let these complex and aging oil refineries be treated in a minimal way. This is important so that accidents like this don't happen again in the future," said Mulyanto, Tuesday, May 28.

Mulyanto also asked the Government to carefully examine the main causes of the refinery fire. In the context of risk mitigation so that refinery accidents can be controlled.

From the experience of previous cases, he continued, the refinery fire research was carried out separately and comprehensively both by the police; international consultants; BPPT consultants; as well as Pertamina's own internal technical team.

According to Mulyanto, actually related to Pertamina's risk management, starting from January 31, 2024, members of the Board of Directors have been appointed specifically for this problem, namely the Director of Risk Management. However, the unfortunate case of oil refinery fires is still repeated.

"So the problem is, it is not the existence of research data on the cause of refinery fires or the existence of a special directorate for risk management. However, the main thing is whether or not a comprehensive risk mitigation program is carried out through audits, supervision, control, maintenance and maintenance of refineries and their infrastructure in order to increase refinery reliability," he explained.

Mulyanto is worried that this aspect will not be carried out properly by Pertamina, because the program requires a large budget with complex and old refinery conditions.

Not to mention that there are not a few Pertamina refineries or depots that are close to residential areas such as Plumpang, Tanjung Priok, Jakarta or in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

"This is a huge risk," concluded Mulyanto.