Aceh wants disbursement of its shares of oil and gas revenue: Report

The people of Aceh want Jakarta to quickly disburse the more than 260 million dollars it owes the province in oil and gas revenues under a new autonomy deal, the AFP reported on Tuesday.

Speaking after a meeting between President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the heads of Aceh districts, Governor Abdullah Puteh said Megawati had agreed to speed up disbursement of the funds.

"We asked the president to immediately disburse the funds from oil and gas receipts under the new law on autonomy," Puteh was quoted as saying.

"The funds amount to around 2.5 trillion rupiah (268.8 million dollars) a year," he added.

Puteh said a broad autonomy law that took effect in January this year contains provisions for the government to share revenues from Aceh's natural resources with local authorities.

He said that based on the state oil and gas company Pertamina's income from oil and gas operations in Aceh last year, the province should receive around 2.5 trillion rupiah.

"The president promised to soon disburse the fund and to order the finance minister to settle this immediately," he said, complaining that appeals to finance minister Budiono (Eds: one name) had been fruitless.

The funds will be used to develop Aceh and improve the prosperity of its population, Puteh pledged. (*)