Aceh asks Pertamina to provide Rp 43.7 billion for CD
Tuesday, May 23 2000 - 04:10 AM WIB
Provincial legislators in Aceh have proposed state oil company PT Pertamina to allocate at least Rp 43.7 billion (1US$=Rp8,450) this year in community development funds, Serambi Indonesia reported on Tuesday.
The chairman of the province's Legislative Council Jamaluddin Ahmad said on Monday that the proposal was in line with the memorandum of understanding agreement signed by the council and Pertamina in February this year.
He said that the proposal was also in line with the autnomy law and the intergovernmental financial balance law which allow provinces to collect funds directly from oil and gas operators in the province.
Previously, oil and gas operators including Pertamina transferred only part of their community development funds to the local government because most of the available funds were used to finance their own community development projects.
The legislators recently visited some of Pertamina's operations in the province to collect reliable data on the level of their oil and gas production levels in the province. Jamaluddin said that the data is very important to determine the portion of the oil or gas production which must go to the local coffers when the new laws are fully implemented beginning next year. (*)