Fuel shortage triggers queues on resort island Bali

Moldovan tourist Raisa Neagu spent hours on Wednesday waiting to fuel up her scooter, one of many people snared in a petrol shortage on resort island Bali that authorities blamed on supply disruptions.

Officials urged people to stay calm, noting there was enough fuel to go around on the island that relies on shipped in gasoline and diesel supplies — but lines still snaked up to a kilometer in places, witnesses said.

“We were stuck with no petrol. So we couldn’t move. We had to cancel all our plans,” 43-year-old tourist Neagu told AFP.

“I’m flying back on the 21st (of October) and I had big plans for my vacation. I wanted to be in the north of Bali and now I don’t know really what to do,” she added.

The disruption was due to delays in distribution after a tanker had trouble discharging its cargo, Simon Aloysius Mantiri, president director of state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, said Tuesday along with an apology.

A tanker carrying more than 22 million litres of fuel had arrived in Bali Tuesday, with the supplies expected to be able to meet demand in the resort island for up to the next seven days, governor I Wayan Koster said.

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“People don’t need to worry because the fuel is available,” he added, noting more fuel shipments are expected to arrive within this week.

Fuel stations in the tourist-heavy areas of Denpasar and Badung will be operating for 24 hours, while deliveries from depots will be carried out around the clock to ease the congestion, Wayan said, without disclosing how long the measure will be in place.

Ni Wayan Susiani, 22, said she had to wait around five hours before she managed to buy fuel for her motorbike, adding that the situation had left her “annoyed”.

“My hope is that this is the last day like this. Hopefully it can return to normal in the days to come,” the hotel worker told AFP.