Jakarta. A senior lawmaker said Tuesday that President Prabowo would let retailers sell the low-cost 3-kilogram cooking gas canisters again after the restriction faced public backlash.

The government has decided to only allow official distributors to sell the subsidized 3-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canisters to low-income households and micro-scale enterprises starting this month. But over the years, people who are financially well-off and larger businesses have been taking advantage of these energy subsidies. To make sure that the subsidies are going to the right people, the government has restricted its distribution, only allowing distributors authorized by the state gas company Pertamina to sell the 3-kg LPG canisters. The government is now in hot water as people struggle to find the LPG canisters known for their bright green color. A 62-year-old woman died Monday while waiting in line for a 3-kg LPG in South Tangerang. 

Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, said that the senior Indonesian lawmakers had engaged in talks with Prabowo regarding the 3-kg LPG. According to Dasco, Prabowo has instructed Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia to let retailers sell 3-kg LPG again.

“The president’s instruction to the minister is that as of today, the retailers should sell [3-kg LPG] like normal,” Dasco said in Jakarta.

“And it is actually not the president’s order to restrict [the subsidized LPG distribution]. But judging by what is happening on the ground, the president instructed [the government] to make sure that the retailers could sell again,” Dasco said.

According to the lawmaker, the restriction actually aimed to prevent the retailers from selling the subsidized LPG at a high price. While things can return to the way it was again, Indonesia will gradually push them to become a “sub-base” or agents to Pertamina. “So we can make sure that the price of the subsidized LPGs remains low,” Dasco said.

He also denied the 3-kg LPG canister scarcity, citing that the government only wanted to make sure that they were going to the well-deserving people at a low cost.