Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto has given three key directives to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia regarding the distribution of subsidized 3-kilogram LPG cylinders.
"The President's direction is to ensure that the entire subsidy process is right on target. Second, it must be well managed, and third, the people must immediately get what they need, especially regarding LPG," Lahadalia informed after meeting Prabowo at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.
Many people are reportedly struggling to obtain subsidized LPG following the changes in the distribution system introduced by the ministry. Consumers have had to queue at designated distributors in several regions to purchase LPG.
One customer is reported to have died of fatigue while queuing for LPG.
Responding to the report, President Prabowo instructed Lahadalia to allow retailers to resume sales of subsidized 3-kg LPG cylinders starting Tuesday.
This would allow consumers to easily obtain the cylinders from retailers located close to residential areas.
According to Lahadalia, better management of the LPG subsidy must be ensured to avoid budget wastage and leakage at the distribution level.
As a solution, the government has changed the LPG distribution system at the retailer level by amending their status to sub-base agents, who are easier to monitor.
Retailers who change their status to sub-base agents are registered on a mobile-based application Merchant Apps Pangkalan run by state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina.
Through the app, retailers can record who bought LPG cylinders, how many gas cylinders were purchased, and their selling price.
"We provide technological facilities so that we can monitor via application. Thus, we can monitor the price control and to whom it (is) sold so there is no misuse of the subsidy," Lahadalia explained.
