Revenue dispute between two East Kalimantan regents to be settled in Jakarta
Thursday, June 21 2001 - 05:44 AM WIB
The minister also invited East Kalimantan governor Suwarna AF, leaders of the East Kalimantan legislative council, Kutai Kertanegara council and East Kutai council to take part in the solving of the dispute between the two regents.
The East Kalimantan administration had tried its best to help solve their dispute but to no avail, and therefore, the administration transferred the problem to the central government.
The dispute started when Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro issued a ministerial decree No. 357/2001 dated April 9, 2001 that changed the portion of income for Kutai and Kutai regencies.
According to the ministerial decree, East Kutai regency would get Rp 138 billion of income from oil and gas operation in its regency, while the Kutai regency would get Rp 1.4 trillion.
Before the issuance of that decree, based on the 2001 state budget, East Kutai was entitled to get Rp 573 billion, while Kutai Kertanegara would get Rp 606 billion.
This differences of income portion has drawn the two regents into conflicts.
East Kutai regent Awang Farouk contended that the ministerial decree contradicts with Law No. 25/1999 and Government Regulation No. 140/2000. In addition, Awang contended that based on satellite mapping, East Kutai had a huge potential of oil and gas. Therefore, the portion for East Kutai should be Rp 573 billion, and not Rp 138 billion.
Meanwhile, Kutai Kertanegara regent Syaukani argued that the change of income portion was a logical consequence of the recent survey. He contended that the location of producing gas and oil wells are mostly located in Kutai regency. And the income portion should be based on the producing units, and not the potential reserves. (*)