Formation Of Coal BLU Faces A Number Of Obstacles, Staff Of The Minister Of Energy And Mineral Resources: Still In Discussion Of Ministries/Agencies

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Building. (Photo: Doc. Antara/Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources)

JAKARTA - Special Staff of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources for the Acceleration of Mineral and Coal Governance, Irwandy Arif, revealed that currently, the formation of the Coal Public Service Agency (BLU) is still experiencing several obstacles. Although he could not convey the details in detail, Arif said the obstacle was in the discussion between the Ministries/Agencies, namely the Ministry of Finance.

"The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has applied for an initial permit for the Presidential Regulation, but when it met with the Ministry of Finance for this kind of thing, it is said that it must be a Government Regulation (PP)", he said in Jakarta, Friday, August 5.

Arif said, this process does not stop here, but still needs to go through progress in the relevant ministries including the process to the State Secretariat (Setneg), then for example, if there is a Presidential Regulation (PP) there must also be a signature from the relevant Ministry. "There are things that are being discussed by ESDM and the Ministry of Finance that we cannot convey because there are still opinions on where this will actually be placed for levies and distributors", he continued.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is also preparing an agency to manage the coal BLU, which was originally planned to be taken over by Tekmira. "Initially Tekmira, but because there was no experience, it was temporarily handed over to Lemigas if this was done and (later) would cooperate with Tekmira", he said.

For this reason, he also cannot confirm when the implementation of the coal BLU can be implemented immediately because it still takes time to process agreements between related ministries and institutions.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, ensured that shortly the BLU scheme for collecting coal fees would start soon.

For your information, mining companies are required to supply coal to PLN according to the DMO price of US$70 per metric ton, and the fertilizer and cement industry at US$90 per metric ton. However, with the existence of this BLU, the price of domestic special coal or Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) will be released to the market mechanism.