Members Of Commission VII DPR RI Ask The Government Not To Hurry Up Banning Coal Exports

JAKARTA – The government's decision to issue a temporary ban on coal exports, which will be implemented from January 1 to January 31, 2021, has received a lot of criticism.

Having previously criticized KADIN, now it's the turn of the House of Representatives Commission VII Member Nasyirul Falah Amru alias Gus Falah to ask the government to review the policy.

"The regulation needs to be reviewed because it is not appropriate in the midst of a pandemic and economic conditions are starting to improve," he said in a statement in Jakarta, Sunday, December 2.

Falah explained that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused a global disaster that had an impact on mineral and coal exports. As a result, coal prices have increased significantly and have an economic and geopolitical impact.

For this reason, according to Gus Fallah, if coal exports are prohibited, it will have an impact on the domestic economy.

Previously, the government through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) decided to prohibit all coal companies from exporting starting January 1, 2022.

This was done because of concerns about the low supply for domestic power plants. It is feared that this could affect the national electricity condition. Based on the letter, the ban on coal exports will be in effect until January 31, 2022.

Falah also said that if the reason for the export ban is so that mine owners can fulfill their obligations related to Domestic Market Obligations (DMO), then the export ban should not be generalized.

"I think it can be seen which company data currently does not have a commitment to supply coal for the country. If everything is rushed (equalized) this is also not good, all mining companies are considered not to fulfill their obligation to supply domestically, it is also not good." fine," he ordered.

Furthermore, Falah conveyed that the ban should be reviewed to sort out which companies do not fulfill their commitments to supply domestic needs.

"Those are the ones who should be banned from exporting, companies that do not fulfill their commitments to meet domestic needs. However, companies that have fulfilled domestic needs according to the provisions have no problem with them exporting," said Falah.