Provinces reject new oil, gas bill

Oil and gas-rich provinces remain oppose to the new oil and gas bill drafted by the central government because it still provides a greater contribution to the central government in Jakarta at the expense of the provinces, according to East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna AF.

"The bill still neglect the oil and gas producing regions, which will cause the local people to end up with no compensation at all," Suwarna told the local Jaya Post daily Sunday on the sidelines of the wedding ceremony of his son.

He urged both the central government and the House of Representatives not to repeat the mistakes of the previous regime which had taken advantage of the local oil and gas resources without sharing them with the local people of the resource-producing regions.

"The central government must pay attention to the oil and gas-producing regions so not to create social unrest which in turn could trigger the disintegration of the country. So the new oil and gas law must really accommodate the interest of the regions to improve the welfare of the (local) people," Suwarna said.

Last week, Suwarna and a few other governors met with the House of Representatives commission VIII on mining and energy to give input to the parliament for the upcoming debate of the new oil and gas bill.(*)