Provinces should gain more from oil and gas resources: Amien Rais

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais has asked the central government to give more power the provincial administrations to control their oil, gas and other mineral resources, The Jakarta Post reported on Thursday.

Giving more power to the local governments to manage and operate their mineral resources was in line with the Law on Autonomy which would be implemented beginning next year, Amien said in his speech at a seminar on decentralization of oil, gas and other mineral sectors in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"A fairer arrangement is needed to avoid threats of disintegration which might raise due to provinces' discontent over the existing revenue sharing schemes," he said.

The government would also implement the Law on Inter-governmental Fiscal Balance next year to support the autonomy law. But many mineral resource-rich provinces such as Aceh are not so happy with the legislation as they said the law still allows the central government to share a larger part of the state revenues raised from oil and gas operations.

Under the Inter-governmental Fiscal Balance Law, 85 percent of the state revenues raised form oil production and 70 percent from gas go to the central government. The local governments only gain larger shares from other mineral resources. (*)