Community development not new to oil, gas contractors

The 1971 law on oil and gas, which has just been replaced by the new law which was approved by the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday, actually also obliged investors to undertake community development, according to oil and gas director general Rachmat Sudibyo.

Although the investors? obligation was not specifically mentioned in the old law, production sharing contractors were obliged to incorporate community development into their operational costs, Sudibyo told a seminar on community development in Bandung on Wednesday.

?In the old law community development were categorized as charity so that related funds were not subject to taxation,? Sudibyo told seminar participants including representatives of production sharing contractors. State oil and gas company Pertamina organized the meeting.

Sudibyo was responding to complaints from some oil and gas contractors that the new law?s emphasis on community development would increase their operational costs. .

He admitted that in the past oil and gas contractors had not adequately carried out community development programs partly because they had not been well coordinated in that matter, Sudibyo admitted.

Meanwhile, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro placed emphasis on better coordination and continuity of community development projects using the funds from production sharing contractors.

The existence of such projects should be popularized, Purnomo told participants in the Bandung seminar, while requesting them to submit to the government their views and ideas about community development projects to be financed with funds from oil and gas contractors. (godang)