Pertamina Cilacap Factory Fire, Puan Maharani Requests Security System Audit

Mrs. Maharani. (Special)

JAKARTA - The chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Puan Maharani, has asked PT Pertamina (Persero) to immediately conduct an audit of the security system at oil refineries. Due to the frequent occurrence of fire incidents at Pertamina's refineries, it is deemed necessary to have special handling.

"We, on behalf of the leadership of the DPR RI, are concerned about the fire at the Pertamina oil refinery in Cilacap, Central Java, a few days ago. As we know, this is not the first incident of a Pertamina refinery fire in 2021," said Puan, Monday (15/11/2021).

Within a year, there have been at least three incidents of Pertamina refinery fires. On March 29, 2021, there was an oil refinery fire in Balongan, Indramayu, West Java, which was large enough that the extinguishing process took up to two days.

Then the fire at Pertamina's oil refinery occurred in the 39 Pertamina RU IV Cilacap tank area on June 11, 2021. The Pertamina Cilacap oil refinery fire occurred again on Saturday (13/11) precisely at the Refinery Unit (RU) IV Tank 36T-102 which contains Pertalite components as much as 31 thousand kiloliters.

“The frequent fires at Pertamina's oil refineries require in-depth evaluation. There must be an audit of the security system at Pertamina's oil refineries so that it can be found what the problem is so that it can be immediately resolved," said Puan.

"Because fires in Pertamina's work area have occurred frequently. We hope that there will be a thorough investigation and total evaluation so that it will not happen again in the future," continued the first woman who served as Chair of the Indonesian House of Representatives.

Puan Maharani is grateful that there were no casualties from the Pertamina oil refinery fire in Cilacap yesterday. She emphasized that Pertamina must ensure the safety and security of the people around the refinery, including its workers.

"Pertamina's security system must prioritize the safety of workers in the refinery environment and the people who live around it. Ensure that risk management is carried out as well as possible,” said Puan.

A number of parties considered that the frequent occurrence of fires indicated that Pertamina had neglected the security of the refinery. For this reason, Puan asked for Pertamina's commitment to improve the safety system of the oil refinery so as not to worsen the performance of the state-owned company.

“Pertamina must be able to explain to the public why fires often occur at their oil refineries. Because this has caused public anxiety and various speculations," she said.

Regarding the alleged element of intent because the fires at the Pertamina oil refinery occurred repeatedly, Puan handed it over to the police. Moreover, the fire not only destroyed the oil storage tank, but also threatened the safety of the people living around the Pertamina refinery complex.

"Find out the cause of the fire. If it is found that there are people who intentionally set fires, they must be processed according to the provisions of the law that have passed,” said Puan.

On the other hand, the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (PMK) appealed to the public not to worry about fuel shortages. Puan asked residents not to panic buying over the oil refinery fire in Cilacap.

“Pertamina has ensured that the supply of fuel and LPG remains safe. People don't need to panic because the government will certainly anticipate all the impacts that occur due to fires," said Puan Maharani.