Responding To The Disabled Director General Of Oil And Gas, Bahlil Calls Waiting For Presidential Decree

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia (Photo: Maria Trisnawati/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia opened his voice regarding the deactivation of the Director General of Oil and Gas (Migas) Achmad Muchtasyar. Bahlil said the removal was part of the institution's consolidation.

When asked about the reason for the deactivation of Achmad due to a search by the Attorney General's Office, Bahlil said the search was carried out in cases of imports of crude or crude in 2018 until 2023.

"That's normal, part of consolidation from the institution. Yesterday I received information about the search related to imports of crude in 2018-20123. The matter of replacement is an internal matter," Bahlil told the media crew at the Fairmont Hotel, Tuesday, February 11.

Meanwhile, regarding the removal of Achmad, Bahlil said that he still had to wait for the issuance of a Presidential Decree (Keppres).

"I said that the one who removed it had to be with the Presidential Decree. While walking, it was deactivated," he added.

As for the deactivation of Achmad, it has been carried out since Monday, February 10 and its duties will be replaced by the Director General of Mineral and Coal (Minerba) Tri Winarno as Acting Director General of Oil and Gas.

For information, previously the Office of the Directorate General of Oil and Gas was searched by the Attorney General's Office on Monday, February 10.

The search carried out by investigators from the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Directorate General of Oil and Gas (Migas) office was related to allegations of corruption in the management of crude oil and refinery products of PT Pertamina (Persero).

"It is true, investigators conducted a search at the office of the Directorate General of Oil and Gas of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources on Jalan HR Rasuna Said, Kuningan, Jakarta. The search was carried out in three rooms," said Head of the Legal Information Center (Kapuspenkum) of the Attorney General's Office (AGO), Harli Siregar, Tuesday, February 10.