Member Of DPR Commission VII From Golkar Asks To Immediately Disband PLN Coal: We Need To Cut The Bureaucracy, Don't Facilitate People For Corruption

Illustration. (Photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission VII DPR RI, Bambang Patijaya firmly asked PLN Batu Bara to be disbanded immediately. he considered that the government needed to cut down the bureaucracy so that PT PLN could work optimally in overcoming the issue of coal availability.

"I think PLN needs to be healthy by cutting down its bureaucracy. It's useless! Don't facilitate people for corruption," said Bambang during a hearing with the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif and his staff, Thursday, January 13.

Bambang assessed that since its establishment in 2018 PLN Batu Bara has not performed optimally because it is only busy with its business activities and does not support PLN as the parent company.

This member of the DPR from the Golkar Party also often receives reports from businessmen who complain that the payments from PT PLN Batu Bara take up to 5-6 months. This has caused many barge owners to be reluctant to do business with PLN Coal, thus disrupting the overall performance of PLN.

"I called him a profiteer. He took the barge, then how much was the agent, then he negotiated it with the coal IUP owner," continued Bambang.

Contrary to the proposal to disband the Coal PLN, Tarumanegara University Energy and Mining Law Observer Ahmad Redi believes that the function of the Coal PLN is still needed in order to meet the coal needs for PLN's PLTU, especially in certain areas.

"I think PLN Coal can be revitalized, for example the stock of coal purchases can be increased. So far, the majority of coal purchases for PT PLN, the contribution is still 20 percent," he said.

If it is disbanded, he continued, PT PLN will be even more burdened with the work of buying coal, including coal transportation. In fact, to transport coal requires a special permit.

"This can be done by PLN Coal which has an IUP OP Special for Transportation and Sales," said Ahmad Redi.

Redi assessed that the government also needs to be consistent in implementing regulations and supervision so that all functions can run well.

"The establishment of the Coal BLU also does not answer the DMO problem, it actually complicates domestic coal governance," he continued.

So far, he continued, the DMO regulation has never faced this problem and only this year there was a problem that caused a coal crisis for PLN.

"This means that the problem is in the supervision and enforcement of the law," he concluded.