Government Must Lower Fuel Prices If Mafia's Role Exposed: Professor

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The government should lower subsidized fuel oil prices if its oil and gas reform team finds that mafia had played a part in increasing fuel prices, a professor has said.

"The government's decision to raise fuel prices by Rp2,000 per liter had been a hasty one," Prof Sri Edi Swasono of the Economic Faculty of the University of Indonesia said in a joint press statement here on Wednesday.

He observed that the government must lower the prices of subsidized fuel if its Oil and Gas Reforms Team chaired by Faisal Basri finds evidence that oil mafia had influenced the price of fuel oils.

Sri Edi issued a joint press statement along with the People's Sovereignty Committee (KKR), a non-governmental organization. In the press statement, businesswoman Poppy Dharsono read the statement titled "Menagih Janji Trisakti" (Demanding the 'trisakti' promise).

Once aired by former president Soekarno, trisakti is a slogan exhorting the country to achieve three goals: political sovereignty, economic independence, and the development of a social and culture personality.

Besides Poppy, a number of other noted figures also attended the event. They included oil observer Marwan Batubara, businessmen Kemal Surianegara, Farid Aidid, legal practitioner Hermawanto, Muslim scholar KH Ma'shum, cultural figure Ki Jlitheng Suparman and natural resource observer Hayono Karto Hadiprojo.

Sri Edi noted that the government should have waited for the report of Faisal Basri's reform team before raising the prices of subsidized fuel oils.

"The government had formed the team because it was aware of the presence of a mafia, which could impose extra cost on the importation and distribution of fuels. So, the government should not have raised the prices but settled the mafia problem in the first palace," Sri Edi pointed out.

On November 17, 2014, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) increased the price of premium gasoline to Rp8.5 thousand per liter from Rp6.5 thousand and that of automotive diesel oil to Rp7.5 thousand per liter from Rp5.5 thousand.

In its joint statement, the KKR has urged all parties inside and outside the government to jointly fight for the attainment of Trisakti goals for a new Indonesia.

Marwan Batubara, on the other hand, stressed that the government must ensure transparency while calculating subsidy on fuels and explain to the public how much fuel are we importing, its price, and Indonesia's actual fuel needs.

"What is more important is that it should crack down on oil and gas mafia and explain to the public all matters regarding fuel oils. Raising prices will not be a problem as long as it is done transparently," he added. (WDY)