House endorses chairman of oil and gas body
House endorses chairman of oil and gas body
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives has endorsed Rachmat Sudibyo, the
director general of oil and gas at the Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources, to become the chairman of the newly
established oil and gas authority, called the Implementing Body.
Against the expectations of many analysts that the selection
of the first chairman of the body would be tough, House
Commission VIII for environmental, science and technology
affairs, took only three hours, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on
Thursday, to complete the discussions on the government's
proposal of Rachmat.
Priyo Budi Santoso, commission member of the Golkar Party,
said on Friday that after a fit-and-proper test, during which
members of the commission questioned Rachmat about his vision and
mission, the commission had no objection to his appointment as
the first chairman of the body.
"He knows a lot about oil and gas. Furthermore, he assured us
that he is a professional and not affiliated to any political
party," Priyo said.
Rachmat, who studied oil technology in Indonesia and France,
was the secretary of the board of commissioners of state oil and
gas company Pertamina, before being appointed director general of
oil and gas in 1999.
According to Priyo, Rachmat was the only name proposed by the
government for the top position of the new body, which is locally
known as Balak.
Under Oil and Gas Law No. 22/2001, the Balak will take over
the various functions that have been held by Pertamina for
decades, which includes the awarding of oil and gas contracts,
the supervision of oil and gas operations and the regulating of
the industry. The body will take over the functions currently
being performed by a special directorate in Pertamina, called the
directorate of production sharing contract management.
Many analysts have predicted the chairmanship will become a
bone of contention among politicians, because it could provide
numerous opportunities for the illegal collection of financial
resources.
Priyo said the commission could not spend much time debating
the nomination of Rachmat because the House would go into recess
starting on Saturday until the middle of August.
The government, which proposed the name to the House on
Wednesday, pushed the House to decide before the recess to enable
the new body to sign the transfer of concession by American oil
and gas company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia on Aug. 6. Caltex
will transfer its Coastal Plains Pekanbaru concession to the
government as its contract on the concession will expire that
day.
"We sort of did not have a choice but to endorse the
nomination of Rachmat. Anyway, we finally endorsed him because we
consider him capable," Priyo said.
Rachmat added he had not yet been informed of the schedule for
his installment as the first Balak chief.
"But, I hope it (the Balak) can start operating in August,"
Rachmat told the Post.
Under Government Regulation No. 42/2002 signed by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, the Balak chief will be assisted by a
vice chief and a maximum of five deputies. The vice chair and
deputies are appointed and dismissed by the minister in charge of
oil and gas on the proposal from the Balak chief. In addition,
the Balak chief will be assisted by a maximum of five experts.
All employees of Pertamina's directorate of production sharing
management will be transferred to the new body, where they will
receive salaries at least equal to the amount they receive at
Pertamina. After one year, the 600 employees will be offered the
choice of whether to return to Pertamina or continue working at
the Balak, according to the government regulations.