As a series of SETAPAK programs supported by The Asia Foundation, PWYP Indonesia together with local partners SETAPAK organized a multi-stakeholder forum and capacity building with a large theme of forest and land governance. The multi-stakeholder forum and capacity building activities were held in two SETAPAK regions, namely Aceh and West Kalimantan.
For Aceh, PWYP Indonesia cooperated with the Anti-Corruption Movement (GeRAK) in holding a multi-stakeholder forum and capacity building for civil society organizations on 25-26 August 2014 with the theme of revenue mechanisms in the extractive sector (oil and gas, minerals and coal and forestry). The participants who attended the forum’s multi-stakeholder activity included representatives from the Aceh provincial government offices, which included the Forestry Service, Mining Service, Regional Revenue Service, and so on, elected legislators and academics.
The essence of the discussion in the multi-stakeholder forum was to question important points of state revenue from extractive industries which were still a problem for stakeholders both local governments, communities, and business actors. At the end of the discussion, a number of recommendations or improvement mechanisms will emerge to maximize revenue, improve mining governance and encourage the development of transparency and accountability mechanisms from the extractive industries themselves to prevent leakage due to suboptimal state revenue.
Some points of recommendations from the Aceh multi-stakeholder forum include access to information, especially access to data from the government to the public in the extractive sector, involving local governments in monitoring points of state revenue in the extractive sector, optimizing regional revenue by closing points and encouraging Independent supervision of oil and gas production in Aceh to the mining area. While for capacity building, the expected output is increased awareness and understanding of the mechanism of revenue flows in the three extractive sectors. An understanding of revenue flows is very useful for advocating for potential leaks in the sector.
Meanwhile, for West Kalimantan, PWYP Indonesia in collaboration with Friends of the Coastal Community (SAMPAN) in organizing a multi-stakeholder forum that carried the theme “Strengthening Government Initiatives in Conducting Mining Permit Arrangement in West Kalimantan Province” on September 1, 2014. This forum was attended by representatives from the provincial government, namely the Mining & Energy Office (Distamben) and the One-Stop Integrated Investment and Services Agency (BPM-PTSP), Dr. Hermansyah (Tanjung Pura University legal expert), and some civil society organizations engaged in forest and land governance.
The discussion in this forum was divided into three major issues, namely the overview and the latest updates on mining licensing procedures in the Province of West Kalimantan, legal analysis of mining licenses, and discussions to formulate the agenda of civil society organizations in structuring mining licenses in the Province of West Kalimantan.
From the growing discussion, it was found that there were differences in IUP data in West Kalimantan between the KPK and the provincial government. In the KPK korsup, IUP in West Kalimantan amounted to 683, whereas according to the West Kalimantan Province Distamben representative, the existing IUP numbered 813. Also recognized by the Distamben representative there were overlapping areas between IUPs. In terms of legal analysis, policies that have multiple interpretations and sectoral egos are the main cause of the chaotic mining permit system in West Kalimantan.
At the end of the discussion, two main recommendations were concluded as a solution to the problem of mining permit procedures in West Kalimantan, namely integrated licensing and synchronization as well as harmonization of policies and authority between the center and the regions. In this case, the role of civil society organizations is central to overseeing and supervising mining permit procedures in West Kalimantan.