Central Sulawesi Proposed as Pilot Project for Mining Revenue Sharing Reform

The Indonesian Christian Intelligentsia Union (PIKI) held a national seminar in Tentena, Poso Regency, Central Sulawesi, in collaboration with Tentena Christian University, to advocate for a fairer, more transparent, and sustainable management of mining revenue sharing funds (DBH). The forum proposed Central Sulawesi as a national pilot project for the reform.

PIKI Deputy Chairman Rizal Calvary Marimbo stated that the seminar represented the organisation’s commitment to contributing to regional and national progress through policy recommendations. PIKI formulated five key recommendations in a policy brief to be submitted to the Ministry of Finance. These include integrating depletion costs into the Mineral and Coal Mining Law as a Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) instrument, building a single data system for PNBP and DBH, ensuring legal certainty for resolving DBH underpayments, implementing outcome-based DBH utilisation, and designating Central Sulawesi as the pilot project for these policies.

Acting Director General of Fiscal Balance at the Ministry of Finance, Nufransa Wira Sakti, who attended virtually, explained the current DBH distribution mechanism and stressed the importance of these funds for state revenue and regional development. Meanwhile, Director General of Mineral and Coal, Tri Winarno, expressed support for the seminar via a recorded video and detailed the composition of natural resource DBH in Central Sulawesi.

Regional leaders voiced strong concerns over chronic delays and underpayments. Central Sulawesi Provincial Assistant II, Rudi Dewanto, representing the Governor, noted that despite the province’s enormous mining potential—including 3.6 billion tonnes of nickel and 42.5 million tonnes of gold—the DBH received is not proportional. He said the transfer amounts to less than 0.2 per cent of the resource value. North Morowali Regent Delis Julkarson Hehi urged the central government to immediately pay the outstanding DBH, arguing the issue is not the distribution formula but the failure to transfer funds. Poso Regent Verna Gladies Merry Inkiriwang added that the delays are crippling essential infrastructure rehabilitation in border areas. PIKI Advisory Board member Martin Hutabarat concluded that the core problem is the slow transfer of funds, not the formula, and called for shared responsibility in ensuring fiscal justice for producing regions.