Ujungpangkah people demand profit sharing from Premier Oil's gas exploration
Thursday, May 3 2001 - 04:30 AM WIB
People from Ujungpangkah, Gresik, East Java, are demanding an income share from gas exploration activities by British oil and gas firm Premier Oil, Surabaya Post afternoon daily reported on Wednesday.
Sugeng of Ujungpangkah GP Anshor youth group of the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization said that the income portion for local people must be made transparent so that there would be no dispute in the future.
"If the exploitation activities or production processes have started, how much percent of income would Ujungpangkah people receive? This must be made clear to avoid suspicions," he said.
He warned that local people should not be neglected because they would be the ones who have to sacrifice because of their decreasing income or the declining environmental condition.
"We don't want to be given with waste only," Sugeng said on Tuesday.
Eko Aryanto, a senior geophysicist at Premier Oil, said that thus far, there was no agreement made between the company and representatives of local people about the income share that would be given to local people.
"But we will abide by regulations stipulated by Law No. 25/1999 on the fiscal balance between the central and regional administrations," Eko said.
He noted that based on the prevailing regulations, 70 percent of the state income portion would be delivered to the central government, while the remaining 30 percent would be distributed for local administrations, of which 6 percent for the provincial administration, 12 percent for the regency where the natural resource is located and another 12 percent for other regencies in the same province.
"Thus for Gresik administration, it will get 12 percent of the state income," he said.
As for Ujungpangkah people Eko said he did not know how much they would get. It would all depend on the Gresik administration.
Nevertheless, Eko said Premier Oil would allocate certain amount of funds for Ujungpangkah people in the form of various community development programs.
Premier Oil thus far has 500 billion million standard cubic feet of certified gas reserve in Ujungpangkah PSC.(*)