Bapeptal prone to outside influence: NGOs
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are seriously questioning the independence of the recently established Power Market Supervision Agency (Bapeptal) and the lack of public participation in selecting the members.
The agency was formed in accordance with government regulation No. 53/2003, which regulates that the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources will recommend candidates for its membership to the President and the House of Representatives.
"How can the agency be independent when the members are proposed by the minister (of energy)?" said Parulian Sihombing of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) in a press conference on Tuesday.
LBH Jakarta is a member of the Working Group on Power Sector Restructuring (WG-PSR), which also groups, among others, the Indonesian Consumer Agency (YLKI), International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) and Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW).
Countering this, Yogo Pratomo, the Director General of Electricity and Energy Usage of the ministry told The Jakarta Post that "the public will be represented by House members."
The regulation was drafted to complement Power Law No. 20/2002, which, starting in 2007, will end state power company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara's (PLN) monopoly by allowing private companies to sell electricity directly to customers. Prices will be determined by a market mechanism in competitive areas.
Java, Bali and Batam are considered the competitive areas, although studies are still being conducted to officially declare them as such.
Bapeptal plays a vital role since it will take over the government's tasks in regulating and supervising competition among power suppliers in competitive areas.
Yogo explained that anyone who complied with the requirements could apply to be a member of the agency. After interviews and a psychological test, the ministry would submit a short list of 10 candidates to the House.
"Five will be chosen after interviews by the House members," he said. The team could be expanded to 11 members, as stipulated by the ruling.
According to Fabby Tumiwa, WG-PSR coordinator, such a selection mechanism does not involve the public and is highly susceptible to outside interference. "An independent committee should be formed with a selection process open to the public," he said.
He also urged the government to be cautious in choosing Bapeptal members and review the loopholes in the regulation.
WG-PSR scorned the government for issuing the ruling amid an ongoing judicial review process of the power law.
"This is a violation of the legal code of ethics," said Parulian. He further explained that technically, the ruling also violated the power law -- specifically, an article that states that the agency should be formed one year after its enactment at the latest.
The ruling came out on Oct. 3 last year, a little over 13 months after the enactment of the power law.
The working group also questioned the agency's duties and jurisdictions, some of which overlapped with other institutions. "For monitoring unhealthy competition, for example, we already have KPPU," said Fabby, referring to the Business Competition Supervisory Commission.
Another overlapping function is the facilitation of disputes between customers and power producers.
Several duties and jurisdictions of Bapeptal
1. To define and implement the government's general policy in power supply business arrangements.
2. To prevent unhealthy business competition.
3. To issue licenses for power supply businesses.
4. To facilitate the settlements of disputes in competition and services
5. To ensure adequate power supply.
6. To give administrative sanctions to license holders who violate regulations and licenses.