Legislator warns govt over Masela decision

By Febry Silaban

An influential legislator voiced concerns on Wednesday over the government?s decision to build an onshore LNG plant for the Masela block in Maluku province, warning the government of serious consequences of such decision.

?The government must be ready to face all the risks,? Inas Nasrullah Zubir, a influential member of the House of Representatives? Commission VII which is in charge of among others energy affairs.

First, he said, the government through the ministry of energy and mineral resources should explain why it chose an onshore LNG plant rather than floating LNG plant while the former is more expensive than the latter. The development costs of the project will be included in cost recovery, which will result in the decrease in the state income every year.

He noted the government risks paying an additional cost of $14.8 billion if the project is built onshore.

Secondly, there have been demands from various communities that the onshore LNG plant should be built in their respective areas. The demands come from people on Babar, Selaru, Masela, Selaru and Yamdena islands. The government should find a solution to the conflicting demands.

Any decision made by the government in choosing one island over other islands for the location of the onshore LNG plant will risk causing jealousy among people living on other islands. This is a social risk, he said.

?The most bitter of all is the likelihood of Inpex pulling out of Masela, taking along all exploration data and other things about the block. All these are secret property of Inpex,? Inas said.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon