Tuesday, 24 December 2013 09:07 WIB

BANDA ACEH – Aceh Anti-Corruption Movement (GeRAK), assesses that up to now there are still areas in Aceh that are not yet open and transparent in publicizing regional revenue from the extractive sector, namely the contents of the earth in the form of oil and gas and mining.

“It turns out that natural resource management in Aceh so far has not provided a welfare impact for the people of Aceh. The information that never arrived about the calculation of oil and gas proceeds to the community was one of the triggers of a long conflict in Aceh, “said Aceh GeRAK Coordinator, Askhalani SHI.

That was stated by Askhalani in a talk show program on Radio Serambi FM on Monday (12/23) last night. The talk show brought up the topic “Mechanisms of Regional Revenue Transparency from Extractive Sector”.

The talk show presented four speakers namely, Head of Mineral Mining, Coal and Geothermal Aceh Mining and Energy Office, Ir Mahdinur, M Fahriansyah SE MSi Ak from the Aceh Revenue and Wealth Service Office (DPKA), Coordinator of GeRAK Aceh, Askhalani SHI, and Coordinator of Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia, Maryati Abdullah.

Other conditions in Aceh, Askhalani said, many mining companies appeared after the conflict but were not accompanied by sufficient information in the calculation and revenue stream for the government. So it needs the encouragement of transparency in the management of regional and central financial funds. “We hope that in the future the government can release information about the extractive sector in Aceh. So that the public can see transparently funds for managing oil and gas results, “he concluded.

Related to that, GeRAK Aceh also conducts training on extractive sector governance in Aceh, for government and community elements. The training lasted for three days (December 23-25), at Wisma Permata Hati, Aceh Besar. Besides Maryati Abdullah, also present as presenters from the IESR Research and Advocacy Officer, Morentalisa Hutapea, Ridaya Laodengkowe, and Dhanny Tantri.
“The participants came from representatives of the Aceh Government, the Regency Government (Pemkab) of Aceh Besar, East Aceh Regency, Aceh Tamiang Regency, West Aceh Regency, Southwest Aceh Regency, and South Aceh Regency as well as the community and NGOs in Aceh,” said the Project Officer for the GeRAK Aceh Program Hayatuddin, to the porch, Monday (12/23).

In the training, Head of East Aceh Distamben Development and Supervision Section, Hasdiansyah Mulyadi said that the proceeds from the oil and gas return so far had not returned to the regions in the form of funds. “Because during the project implementation there were still cuts or circumcision so the project implementation was not optimally absorbed by the region,” he said.

Zulfan Diara from the Central Aceh ESDM Department said that oil and gas revenue-sharing funds were also received by many structural positions, not for the people in general. Whereas Ubairizal from Distamben Abdya hopes that the Central Government can be open and transparent in mining work contracts. “Because so far the contract of work is managed by the Central Government,” said Ubairizal. (Sr)

Source: Serambi Indonesia