Jambi criticizes Pertamina for not involving it in new projects

Jambi governor Zulkifli Nurdin has asked state owned oil and gas company Pertamina of ignoring the aspiration of the local people in the development of oil and gas resources in the province, Sriwijaya Post reported on Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Jambi on Thursday, the governor accused Pertamina of not involving the provincial administration in developing new oil and gas projects in the province. "Pertamina has never involved the local authority in its projects," he said.

According to him, the provincial administration and the state owned oil and gas company had signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the development of oil and gas projects in the province. Under the agreement, the provincial authority will be invited to join the ownership in projects that will be developed by Pertamina. But the province has never been involved despite the agreement.

Zulkifli said Pertamina might ignore the province due to the latter?s weak financing capacity. But according to him, the financing was not really a problem because many foreign investors had expressed their readiness to provide financial assistance to the province. (*)