Administration to take control of CNG stations

Mustaqim Adamrah ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 07/22/2008 10:14 AM  |  City

The Jakarta administration is set to take over the management of two compressed natural gas (CNG) stations currently being operated by gas distributor PT Petross Gas.

City Secretary Muhayat said Monday the administration was considering having city-owned property and infrastructure firm PT Jakarta Propertindo (JakPro) manage the two CNG stations.

The proposal comes amid a dispute between the administration and Petross over claims of late payments by the administration to the company.

"It's impossible for the administration to pay its debt (to Petross) completely using the city budget because the problem relates to investment," Muhayat said at City Hall.

Petross supplies CNG from state gas company PT PGN to TransJakarta buses.

Petross operates two CNG filling stations, in Rawa Buaya and on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan in East Jakarta.

In March, PGN claimed the administration owed a debt of Rp 10.6 billion (US$1.16 million) for gas used by TransJakarta buses, in addition to a Rp 15 billion debt because the administration had agreed to fund the construction of gas pipelines to the two CNG stations.

PGN said the administration was six months behind in payments for CNG for several TransJakarta bus operators.

JakPro spokesman Suryadi said the administration was yet to inform the company about its possibly taking over management of the stations.

"We haven't received any directives from the administration over the plan," he told The Jakarta Post.

"But we're ready, if requested, to take over the stations, which fit into one of our business cores, infrastructure."

Muhayat also said the administration was yet to decide when it would execute the plan, pending a final decision from Petross' board of directors.

However, he said early indications were that Petross was unlikely to let go of the two stations.

"Petross has made two offers to the administration," he said.

"First, Petross doesn't want us to pay our debt in money, but instead, it's asking for its operational licenses to be extended,"

Under the other offer, Petross would let the administration take over its station in Rawa Buaya, West Jakarta, according to Muhayat.

The Rawa Buaya station serves TransJakarta buses operating on Corridor 3, which links Harmoni in Central Jakarta to Kalideres in West Jakarta.

The Perintis Kemerdekaan station supplies CNG to TransJakarta buses traveling on Corridor 2, which links Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta to Harmoni, and Corridor 4, which connects Pulo Gadung to Dukuh Atas in Central Jakarta.

TransJakarta buses on corridors 2 to 7 are dependent on four CNG stations, which serve 300 out of the 396 buses on the lines.

Muhayat said the administration and Petross required further discussions to resolve the issue.

Petross president director Bagus Andika and operational director Robbi Renaldi Sukardi could not be reached for comment.

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