Annual mining officials meeting ends with realignment plans
JAKARTA (JP): Officials of the Ministry of Mines and Energy and its state-owned companies ended their three-day annual meeting here with commitments to realigning management and streamlining bureaucracy in their offices.
"A lack of coordination among officials of the ministry and its companies has partly made bureaucracy in the ministry more complicated," Minister of Mines and Energy Ida Bagus Sudjana told reporters after closing the meeting at the state-owned oil company Pertamina's headquarters here yesterday.
In line with President Soeharto's suggestion that all companies under the ministry's management improve their efficiency, the meeting has formulated restructuring programs, which are ready to be implemented in the next five years, he said.
All the programs prepared by state companies should be soon submitted to the ministry for further studies by a special committee for development, he said. "I hope the programs can improve efficiency and the working spirit of both our officials and investors joining our projects," he said.
"The ministry has also asked the state electricity company PLN, which has representative offices in provinces, regencies and districts throughout the country, to share its facilities with local officials of the ministry for dealing with issues related to mining and energy industries," he said.
This is an efficiency effort on the part of the ministry, considering that the ministry thus far has representatives in only 15 provinces, he said, adding that the cooperation with PLN will start as soon as possible after a special team finishes details of the plan this year.
Sudjana is optimistic that the expanded offices will help the ministry to manage and control the bureaucracy in the country.
Total scheme
In addition to streamlining bureaucracy, Sudjana said that his ministry is now also introducing a one-stop service to investors interested in gas exploration and production activities.
Suyitno Patmosukismo, director general of oil and gas, explained that the new mechanism will streamline the negotiation procedures, because the scheme will cover all items, from exploration to sale arrangements.
He said that in the next five year, his office will invite foreign investors to develop small-scale gas businesses.
"To anticipate the intensification of small gas businesses, the Directorate General of Oil and Gas will construct an integrated gas distribution piping system in the country, thereby enabling them to distribute their products through the network," he said.
"The first step of the distribution network is to carry gas which is produced by companies in Sumatra to consumers in Java," he said.
PLN's director for program development, Kodyat Samadikun, said that the company is now also preparing a new interconnected network linking Java and other islands in the country.
"The new planned interconnected system is expected to help distribute power to islands other than Java and Bali," he said, adding that the planned project is expected to attract investors to compete for its construction.
Pertamina's president, Faisal Abda'oe, said that his company is also committed to improving its efficiency to reduce production costs in its refineries.
"We will also cut costs for oil transportation and distribution," he said.
Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, director general of mines, told The Jakarta Post that he plans to invite more investors for mining phosphorous and kaolin in the country. (fhp)