The following is a press release from the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) coalition’s public discussion in collaboration with PATTIRO in Pekanbaru, Riau
Pekanbaru, (Antarariau.com) – The Indonesian non-governmental organization (NGO) Publish What You Pay (PWYP) stated that the government and contractor companies are obliged to implement transparency in oil and natural gas (oil and gas) governance so that irregularities can be prevented.
“So far there are still data that are not the same or there are differences between the government and oil and gas cooperation contractor companies, especially with regard to cost recovery and taxes,” said PWYP Indonesia Coordinator, Maryati Abdullah in Pekanbaru, Tuesday.
Maryati was a speaker at a public discussion held by the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) Riau in collaboration with the Research Institute of the Islamic University of Riau and the Center for Regional Studies and Information (PATTIRO) at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Law, Islamic University of Riau (UIR) Pekanbaru.
The theme of the discussion was Encouraging the Implementation of Open Government Partnership (OGP) in the Regions, Realizing Transparency in Oil and Gas Governance.
Maryati discussed the dissemination of reports and their role and use for the regions.
“To start, of course we need transparency from various oil and gas sectors, especially in operational funding,” he said.
He said it was time for the regions to make various efforts so that “open government partnership (OGP) could be realized, especially in the oil and gas sector so that it brings equitable benefits.
According to him, transparency is the foundation of a democratic country like Indonesia.
“Without that, a democratic country will not be able to become a true democracy because the people do not get complete information about every state income and expenditure,” he said.
Maryati Abdullah, who is also a member of the 2012-2013 International OGP Steering Committee, added that currently Indonesia has committed to implementing two global initiatives that encourage transparency and accountability in the extractive sector, namely the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Open Government Partnership (OGP).
“Our task is to ensure that the government is truly committed to carrying out this initiative, including involving local governments in it,” he said.
For information, he continued, EITI is a global standard for transparent payments and receipts from the extractive industry sector.
“EITI has been implemented in 46 countries in the world, including Indonesia, where Indonesia expressed its commitment through the issuance of Presidential Regulation Number 26 of 2010 concerning Transparency of State and Regional Revenues Received from the Oil, Gas and Mining Extractive Sector,” he said.
At this activity, the committee also presented the Acting Governor of Riau Arsyadjuliandi Rachman as the keynote speaker who raised the theme of the Role of Regional Government in Managing Oil and Gas Resources and the Policy for Redistribution of Oil and Gas Products for the People.
Apart from that, there were also speakers such as Fahmi Radhi from the Oil and Gas Governance Reform Team/Oil and Gas Anti-Mafia Task Force and the Dean of the UIR Faculty of Petroleum.
*This article was published on the antarriau.com website page on Tuesday, December 30 2014. Read more here: http://foto.antarariau.com/berita/49573/—lsm:-transparency-tata-kelola-migas-mandatory -applied
*Read also “Observer: Transparency in Oil and Gas Governance Prevents Mafia” via this link: http://antarariau.com/berita/49584/-pengamat:-transparansi-tata-kelola-migas-cepat-mafia
*Read also “Governor: Four Million Riau Residents Are Palm Oil Farmers” via this link: http://antarariau.com/berita/49583/gubernur:-empat-juta-penbangun-riau-petani-sawit
