Tarakan administration takes over Exspan port

The Tarakan administration in East Kalimantan has taken over the special port belonging to oil and gas firm PT Exspan Nusantara and the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina following the implementation of the new regional autonomy policy early this month, the evening Suara Pembaruan daily reported.

The paper quoted Exspan field chief Andy Loloh as saying that the Tarakan administration sent a letter late in December telling the company that the local government would take over the port, and on January 1, the administration's officers had already took over the port, usually used by Exspan and Pertamina to ship working equipments.

Andy said that Exspan had reported the incident to the Police and other government related agencies.

The government implemented the regional autonomy policy on January 1, 2001, giving provincial and regency administrations greater power in managing their social and economic affairs. The autonomy policy gives regions to have up to 80 percent revenue from the mining resources in their areas, 15 percent from oil, 30 percent from gas, and 40 percent from forestry.

But the Tarakan administration seems to be go beyond the autonomy policy by taking over the operation of Exspan port.

The case is one of the confusion and problems that may arise in the future after the implementation of the regional autonomy policy, experts have warned.(*)