KM- ITB Held Public Discussion about Petroleum Fuel Subsidies for Nation's Prosperity
By Akbar Syahid Rabbani
Editor Akbar Syahid Rabbani
The speakers that presented by Kementrian ESDM KM-ITB are the director of Bahan Bakar Minyak Badan Pengatur Hilir Minyak dan Gas Bumi (BPH Migas), Dr. Ir. Djoko Siswanto, M.B.A; director of Indonesian Resources Studies (IRESS), Marwan Batubara and Petroleum Engineering ITB lecturer, Ir. Tutuka Ariaji, M.Sc, Ph.D. Besides those names, there was one of the student's representation, Billal Maydika Aslam (Petroleum Engineering ITB student year 2011).They came from various professions in energy field, especially in Petroleum Fuel. Each one of these speakers had their own perspectives in facing the problems about petroleum fuel subsidies.
This discussion started by singing Indonesia's national anthem, Indonesia Raya. Then, it opened by the greetings speech from KM-ITB president, Jeffry Ginanza. He said that Indonesia is not as rich as it was, Indonesia were able to export petroleum to other countries back then. "Indonesia has become a country that imports petroleum, now petroleum is not only expensive, but it becomes hard to get. Our role, as a student, is delivering the message from Indonesian people to policy maker and of couse the experts of that understand those policies well", Jeffry said.
After the greetings, the discussion continued with presenting issues about petroleum fuel subsidies from each speakers. Billal said that subsidized fuel's quota is decreasing from 48 millions kiloliter to 46 millions kiloliter. Besides stating that, he also talked about UUD article 33 about petroleum fuel subsidies, and also talked about ways to decrease subsidized fuel dependence. "There are four ways to decrease subsidized fuel consumption, which is diversification, conservation, efficiency, and rational fuel price", Billal said.
Different with Djoko, he presented about solar, kerosene, and premium (type of petroleum fuel that being sold in Indonesia-red.) since 2005. "When our country still depend on kerosene as a fuel to cook, the problems about kerosene subsidies weren't near to conclusion. So, Mr. Jusuf Kalla instructed the responsible ones to convert kerosene to LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). That was one of the successful story about converting petroleum fuel to liquefied petroleum gas",Djoko said. Then, Marwan dan Tutuka talked about energy mix until 2050. "In 2014, the usage of renewable energy is only 5,6% and estimated to be increased to 31% in 2050. With increasing the renewable energy consumption slowly, it can decrease fossil fuel consumption.", said Tutuka.