Mines ministry too vital to be phased out: Bambang
Mines ministry too vital to be phased out: Bambang
JAKARTA (JP): The mining and energy sectors, because of their
strategic natures, should continue to be overseen by the central
government, Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
said on Monday.
The ministry should be retained to regulate strategic
policies, although it would have to delegate much of its current
authority to the regions under the new regional autonomy law, the
Army lieutenant general said.
The ministry oversees the oil and gas industries, which
generate much of the country's foreign exchange reserves and the
government's tax income. It also manages the electricity
industry.
While the ministry has transferred supervision of state
electricity company PT PLN to the office of the state minister of
investment and state enterprises development, it still retains
control over Pertamina, the state-owned oil and gas company.
Speaking during a break in a meeting to hammer out the
ministry's new vision, mission and strategy, Bambang said the
government was studying which activities should continue to be
performed by the ministry and which should be delegated to
regional administrations.
"We're studying whether oil, coal or gas can be classified as
strategic industries," he said.
Regional Autonomy Law No. 22/1999 and Intergovernmental Fiscal
Balance Law No.25/1999 empower provinces to manage their own
affairs, a task natural resources-rich provinces have been
clamoring for.
Bambang defined strategic industries as those which affected
the lives of a large number of people or played a major role in
the nation's economy.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy is currently drafting bills
for the oil and gas sector, the mining sector and the power
sector, taking into consideration the two new laws.
The government's decision to delegate only a part of the
ministry's authority to the regions stands in contrast to the
policy of the Central Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), which
has delegated all of its non-mining and non-finance investment
authority to regional BKPM offices.
A number of observers have called for the Ministry of Mines
and Energy and the central BKPM to be phased out once the
autonomy law comes into effect next year.
Economist Rizal Ramli, however, said the Ministry of Mines and
Energy was vital and called for a study on how much authority
should be delegated to the regions.
"The government must maintain the ministry since in the mining
sector there are some issues that fall under national policy," he
said. (03)