E. Kalimantan?s regency wants on-time disbursement of mining royalty

An East Kalimantan regent on Wednesday complained about the government?s slowness in disbursing mining royalty to regencies.

Kutai Kertanegara regent Syaukani H.R. said they had too often received royalty funds three months behind official schedules.

?We request the government to speed up the disbursement process,? Syaukani told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on mining in Jakarta.

Syaukani said Kutai Kertanegara, which is a part of East Kalimantan province, had annually received Rp 1 trillion (US$=Rp8,900) from oil and gas royalty, and less than Rp 100 billion from general mining royalty.

He suggested that the government minimize official deductions of the royalty portion going to regencies. So far, the amounts going to regencies had been cut for taxes and other kinds of levies.

Under existing laws, provinces receive 80 percent of the royalty paid to the government by general mining companies, and 30 percent of the royalty paid by oil and gas firm. They are further divided between the provincial administration and regency administration.

A number of oil and gas and coal mining firms operate in Kutai Kertanegara including oil and gas miners TotalFinaElf, Vico and Unocal; and coalminers Kitadin and Multi Harapan Utama. (godang)