Regarding Palm Oil Revenue Sharing Funds, East Kalimantan Waits For Central Policy

Workers harvesting palm fruit in November 2011. (ANTARA-M Fauzi Fadilah).

KALTIM - The Provincial Government (Pemprov) of Kalimantan is still waiting for a policy from the central government related to the profit sharing fund (DBH) for palm oil commodities.

"Although the DBH for palm oil is being discussed, it has been agreed that there will be a fund for the production of palm oil," said Deputy Governor of East Kalimantan (Kaltim), Hadi Mulyadi, in Samarinda, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, August 2.

Hadi said, East Kalimantan together with most of the palm oil-producing regions is trying to include palm oil in the scheme of providing DBH from the center to the regions.

"We have several times invited governors from palm oil-producing provinces to discuss the regulation, then propose it to the center," said Hadi.

He continued, that until now the palm oil DBH is being discussed by the central government. In this case, East Kalimantan together with other regions awaits the outcome of the decision.

Meanwhile, the Acting Secretary of the East Kalimantan Provincial Government, Riza Indra Riadi, emphasized that his party would fight for the palm oil DBH to the center.

The proposed scheme is to add an oil palm component to the natural resources DBH which is taken from the export duty and levies on exports of palm oil and its derivatives.

The East Kalimantan Provincial Government proposes an allocation of 90 percent for the regions with the distribution for the province concerned 35 percent, producing regencies/cities 45 percent, other regencies/cities within the province 10 percent.

"The profit-sharing fund (DBH) for oil palm plantations is included in the general policy direction of Transfer to Regions and Village Funds (TKDD) for Fiscal Year 2023. The central government accommodates the proposals of 22 Indonesian oil palm producing regions," he said.