Nearly missed it – Minister meets Commission 7.

Nearly missed it – Minister meets Commission 7. [Posted 8 Dec 2015, 97 views, 5 likes, 0 comments]

On 7 Dec I caught the end of the Parliament TV rebroadcast session (originally 1 Dec) where the Minister of Mines, Sudirman Said, met with Commission 7 to discuss the budget for 20015 – 2016, plus other matters.

The digital media (koranbabel) reported that Sudirman estimates the budget spending has reached 40% to present, and adsorption will only reach 65% of the total budget allocation this year. The main obstacles are internal barriers, including preparation of tender documents, and various mafia. The Minister anticipates social issues on implementation, requiring further coordination with other agencies. Mr Sudirman suggested the unused portion of the budget may be used to support the infrastructure for electricity supply.

Other digital media (N.Y. Permana) indicates that investment reached US$ 28.88 billion, or about 63.47% of the target US$ 45.5 billion, of which investment in the coal and mineral sector reached US$11.2 billion being 84.4% of the target US$ 6.1 billion. This lower realization is in part due to the world economic slowdown, and low price of oil.  Sudirman hinted that a change in the Indonesian oil & gas investment climate was needed, and acknowledged the associated political issues.

The meeting resolved a follow up list (as shown on TV) for the Minister of ESDM to report back to Commission VII as:

1. Komisi VII DPR RI meminta Menteri ESDM RI untuk menyampaikan realisasi kesimpulan Rapat Kerja Komisi VII DPR RI bersama Menteri ESDM sepanjang tahun 2015.
2. Komisi VII DPR RI mendesak Menteri ESDM RI untuk menyampaikan rencana strategis Kementerian ESDM dilengkapi dengan tahapan pelaksanaan program kerjanya.
3. Komisi VII DPR RI meminta kepada Menteri ESDM RI untuk membuat standar baku nasional perhitungan rasio elektrifikasi yang nyata mampu menggambarkan potensi kelistrikan daerah.
4. Komisi VII DPR RI meminta Menteri ESDM RI agar mendesak PT. PLN (Persara) untuk melakukan pengembangan pembangkit listrik energy baru dan terbarukan sesuai Kebijakan Energi Nasional dan Rencana Umum Ketenagalistrikan Nasional.
5. Komisi VII DPR RI meminta Menteri ESDM RI untuk mempersiapkan bahan-bahan terkait tafsir dan konsistensi antara UU No. 4 / 2009 tentang Pertambangan Mineral dan Batubara dan UU No. 22 / 2001 tentang Minyak dan Gas Bumi dengan peraturan perundang-undangan di bawahnya.
6. Komisi VII DPR RI meminta kepada Menteri ESDM RI untuk menyampaikan inventarisasi hasil temuan audit kinerja Kementerian ESDM oleh BPK RI yang belum ditindak lanjuti.

With Google translate as;

1. The Commission VII of the House of Representatives have asked the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia to convey the realization of the conclusions Working Meeting of Commission VII of the House of Representatives with the Minister of Energy and Mineral throughout 2015.
2. The Commission VII of the House of Representatives urged the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia to deliver a strategic plan of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is equipped with a phase of the work program.
3. Commission VII of the House of Representatives asked the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia to create national standards real electrification ratio calculation able to describe the electrical potential of the region.
4. The Commission VII of the House of Representatives have asked the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia to urge PT. PLN (Persara) to undertake the development of new power plants and renewable energy according the National Energy Policy and National Electricity General Plan.
5. The Commission VII of the House of Representatives requested the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia to prepare materials related to the interpretation and consistency between the Law 4/2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining and the Law 22/2001 on Oil and Gas with the subsequent legislation.
6. The Commission VII of the House of Representatives asked the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia to convey an inventory of the performance audit findings MEMR by BPK RI that has not been followed up.

This meeting, and list, seems to be poorly reported upon in the media and government web sites. The nature of this list suggests business-as-usual between the Minister of ESDM and Commission 7. This outlook is very different to the “State-of-crisis” suggested by some in the industry, and the lack of exploration leading to massive unemployment across all mining sectors (pro job). Clearly the unrealized budget should go into stimulating exploration, rather than building power poles – particularly as PLN just received a US$600 million loan, for transmission & distribution networks , from the ADB (Jakarta Post 8 Dec).