The National Police Admits Stocks Of Oxygen Cylinders In The Market Are Rare, The Distributors Prioritize Hospitals

Workers arrange medical oxygen cylinders at an oxygen refilling agent, Bandung, West Java (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The results of the inspection by the Indonesian National Police have not found any indications of hoarding of oxygen cylinders by unscrupulous persons, causing a shortage in the market.

The Head of the Public Relations Division of the National Police Inspector General Argo Yuwono said the scarcity of oxygen cylinders in the market was prioritized for sufficiency in hospitals.

"The availability of oxygen cylinders is decreasing because distributors prioritize hospitals", Argo said when confirmed by Antara, Monday, June 27.

Previously, the Police carried out field checks to follow up on the scarcity of oxygen cylinders on the market that had occurred in the last few days.

This check is to ensure the availability of oxygen cylinders for COVID-19 patients and anticipates hoarding.

"Every possibility is seen, whether it is because there are many who use it compared to the stock", said Argo.

One of the obstacles faced by traders of oxygen cylinders in Pramuka Market, East Jakarta, is that there is a shortage of oxygen cylinders due to distribution problems.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has asked the National Armed Force (TNI) Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto and the National Police Chief Gen. Pol Listyo Sigit Prabowo to ensure the safety and smooth logistics of oxygen cylinders from factories to hospitals.

In addition, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said his party had coordinated with oxygen producers to divert oxygen to the industrial segment to meet hospital needs in the face of increasing COVID-19 cases.

"We have received a commitment from this oxygen supplier, that they can shift the oxygen capacity for the industry to medical because the industrial oxygen capacity can be filled by other oxygen companies", Budi said in an online press conference broadcast by the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel in Jakarta, last Friday.

Currently, there are 4 oxygen cylinder factories in West Java, one factory in Central Java, and four factories in East Java. If in Central Java there is a shortage of oxygen cylinders, then supplies from West Java and East Java will compensate for the fulfillment of this need.