Solar Shortage Disrupts Water Transportation on the Coast of West Kalimantan

PONTIANAK - The scarcity of subsidized diesel fuel has paralyzed passenger and cargo ship transportation services on a number of waterways in West Kalimantan since last week.

"The routes affected include Teluk Batang, North Kayong Regency to Rasau Jaya, Kubu Raya Regency, and the Padang Tikar route, Batu Ampar District to Rasau Jaya and vice versa. A number of mining vessels were forced to stop operations because operators had difficulty obtaining subsidized solar supplies to carry out shipping," said Chairman of the Regional Management Board (DPD) of the National Association of River, Lake, and Crossing Operators (GAPASDAP) West Kalimantan, Agus Tianto, in Pontianak, Monday, May 18.

He said the scarcity of subsidized fuel directly affected the mobility of coastal communities and logistics distribution.

"This problem should not be allowed to linger," he said.

According to him, the Teluk Batang-Rasau Jaya route is a vital transportation access for coastal communities because there is no adequate alternative land route.

He explained that most of the community's activities, ranging from passenger travel to the transportation of basic necessities, are entirely dependent on water transport services.

"Therefore, the disruption of ship operations has a significant impact on economic activities and the needs of coastal communities," he said.

In addition to the difficulty in obtaining supplies, the price of solar in the field is also said to have jumped far above the subsidized price set by the government.

If the official price of subsidized solar is Rp6,800 per liter, at a number of points the selling price is said to reach Rp17 thousand per liter or almost three times more expensive.

This condition is considered to be increasingly burdening the people's ship operators who rely on subsidized fuel to maintain the sustainability of transportation services.

Agus urged the government and related parties to immediately take quick steps to normalize the distribution of subsidized solar, especially for the people's transportation sector which is fully dependent on the supply of fuel.

He also asked for tighter distribution supervision so that the distribution of subsidized solar was targeted and did not hinder the activities of coastal communities.

"The distribution of subsidized fuel must be targeted to prevent it from hindering public transportation which is very dependent on solar," he said.

Currently, the ship operators hope that the distribution of subsidized solar will soon return to normal so that shipping services on the Batang Bay-Rasau Jaya and Padang Tikar-Rasau Jaya routes can operate optimally again.