Govt waiting for PTBA's concept to develop Ombilin coal field
Saturday, July 22 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
The government is currently waiting for a proposal from state owned coal miner PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) to develop its depleting Ombilin coal reserve so that the government could allocate certain amount of fund for the project from the coal fund.
The secretary general of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Djoko Darmono, said on Friday that under the prevailing rules, about 9 percent of the 13.5 percent coal sales that becomes the government's rights could be allocated for the development of coal mining activities in the country.
"There is no problem if some of the coal fund is allocated for Ombilin. It depends on how much the need to develop Ombilin. But the government has to wait a concept from PTBA on what it will do on Ombilin," he said.
After the ministry got the proposal from PTBA, Djoko said, it would forward it to the Ministry of Finance that manages the coal fund.
According to Djoko, as of the end of April, the coal fund totaled Rp 985 billion. By the end of this year, the coal fund is projected to increase to Rp 1.3 trillion.
The coal fund is collected from all coal-mining companies that are required to submit 13.5 percent of their coal sales to the government's coffers.
According to Presidential Decree No. 75/1996 that governs on the use of the coal fund, out of the 13.5 percent of coal sales that belong to the government, 9 percent should be used for the development of coal mining activities in the country, 1.2 percent for value added taxes and 3.3 percent for mining royalties. (*)