Denpasar. Bali Governor Wayan Koster has admitted he was wrong to lose his temper during a confrontation with a gas station employee while inspecting fuel shortages on the island on Oct. 14, an incident that was recorded and widely shared on social media.

“My mistake was that the employee got angry, and I got angry too. That was my fault,” Koster said in Denpasar on Friday, as quoted by state news agency Antara.

Koster said he had visited the gas station to check how authorities were handling fuel shortages and assess preparations for round-the-clock operations.

He found the station closed despite long queues of vehicles waiting for fuel. He then spoke with the station's management about computer system problems that had disrupted operations.

During the discussion, a female employee interrupted and became angry with the governor. A video of the exchange subsequently went viral, showing Koster responding angrily and telling the employee to be quiet.

Koster acknowledged that he should have remained calm and handled the situation more diplomatically.

He said the incident had also drawn criticism from his wife, who reprimanded him over the way he had handled the confrontation.

The governor described the fuel shortages, along with disruptions to supplies of subsidized 3-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders, as lessons for the provincial administration in improving its crisis response.

He said addressing shortages of essential goods was a shared responsibility and urged all parties to avoid blaming one another.

During the fuel crisis, Koster said he had frequently worked from Pertamina's Sanggaran fuel depot until the early hours of the morning to coordinate policy responses with the state-owned energy company's management.

He said the provincial government's response had received recognition from the public, the central government, and members of the diplomatic community.

“Tourism is very sensitive to security and social issues. That is why we are making extra efforts to ensure Bali remains stable,” he said.

Koster reiterated that the fuel shortages were caused by distribution problems rather than insufficient national fuel stocks.

A tanker carrying 18 million liters of fuel had been unable to dock at Pertamina's Manggis depot for 18 hours after its anchor became entangled, he said. The incident disrupted fuel deliveries to gas stations across Bali for a day.

“I have also spoken with Pertamina's president director to ensure that something like this does not happen again,” Koster said.

The Bali administration has called on relevant agencies and businesses to strengthen coordination to prevent similar disruptions in the future.

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