It Took Up To 2 Years, SKK Migas Boss Asked For AMDAL Permit To Be Given Automatically

JAKARTA - Head of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) Djoko Siswanto asked permission from Commission XII of the DPR RI to provide permission for an analysis of Environmental Impact (AMDAL) automatically to Contractors for Cooperation Contracts (KKKS) in the fields of oil and natural gas.

The reason is, the process of issuing environmental permits such as Environmental Management Efforts and Environmental Monitoring Efforts (UKL-UPL) is quite slow

"We hope that there will be new breakthroughs, for example, every upstream oil and gas activity will automatically get AMDAL. Unless there are things that pollute the environment, fines will automatically be carried out," said Djoko, quoted on Tuesday, November 19.

Dengan pemberian izin secara otomatis tersebut, Djoko menilai hal ini akan sangat mempermudahkan pelaku usaha di bidang minyak dan gas bumi untuk mempercepat proses menuju eksplorasi. Meski diberikan otomatis, Djoko bilang, KKKS akan langsung diberikan denda jika menyebabkan pemalukan.

"This will be very helpful if upstream oil and gas activities are immediately given an automatic AMDAL permit. If there is pollution, they will be immediately subject to a fine, this will be more helpful," he added.

The former Secretary General of the National Energy Council (DEN) said that the granting of AMDAL permits needs to be done automatically from licensing on environmental matters, saying it will take 5-24 months or 2 years to issue UKL-UPL permits or AMDAL permits.

Djoko also hopes that the permit processing process can use digital signatures or e-signs, standardization of document completeness formats, to flow and inspection procedures.

"We hope for approval through e-signs and is automatic via OSS or Amdalnet," said Djoko.

This is in line with the mission of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia who wants to carry out regulatory reforms.

Bahlil Lahadalia emphasized that simplifying regulations in the energy sector is a priority in order to accelerate investment, especially in the first 100 days of his leadership. One of the biggest challenges faced is the overlapping of licensing, which has hampered the smooth running of investment. For example, in the oil and gas exploration sector, Bahlil highlighted that there are still more than 100 permits that must be met, which makes the exploration process slow and less efficient.

"Imagine that we want to explore, the current permit is still 100 more, 129 if I'm not mistaken. Actually, this permit is already good, but we are the Service Level Agreement which is lacking, the speed is up. Now I'm still looking for a reason," said Bahlil, Monday, October 21.