Natural resources bill rejected

JAKARTA: A number of private sector firms and experts have voiced their opposition to a planned bill on natural resources, saying that it would only create a more complex bureaucracy and a high cost economy.

The Office of the State Minister for the Environment, experts, and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are currently drafting the bill.

The draft law, among other things, calls for the creation of a national council to manage natural resources, and imposes new taxes and levies on the sector.

Ricky Ibrahim, a senior executive of the Indonesian Renewable Energy Society (METI), said Tuesday that METI and other energy sector firms and associations rejected the council's establishment and the imposition of new taxes and levies on natural resources.

"The planned council will only prolong the bureaucratic chain, while the new taxes and levies will only give birth to a high cost economy," Ricky told The Jakarta Post by telephone after a meeting the drafting team for the natural resources management bill on Tuesday.

According to Ricky, the management of natural resources must continue to be managed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, which had made a strong contribution to the country's development.

If endorsed, the natural resources bill would become the reference for other, related natural resources bills, such as a mining bill, oil and gas bill, and water resources bill. --JP