TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government’s plan to collect energy-security reserve funds for the energy security program has to be weighed carefully first before being realized.
The idea, which was first revealed by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said, is still a premature idea.
It does not have a legal basis and is also still vague.
Who will manage the funds? The government, state-owned enterprises, or the private sector?
We don’t know it yet.
Even the Finance Minister is clueless about the funds.
It was Sudirman who publicly announced the idea of energy-security reserve funds last week when announcing the new prices of fuel effective on 5 January 2016.
The price of Premium drops from Rp7,300 into Rp7,150 per liter, while the price of solar (diesel fuel), will be cut from Rp6,700 into Rp5,950 per liter.
The new price already includes the collection of energy-security reserve funds of Rp200 per liter for Premium and Rp300 per liter for solar.
With the collection of the funds, it is estimated that the government will get energy security funds worth Rp15-16 trillion per year.
The government should be very careful with such big amount of funds.
The idea of energy security funds is basically a noble idea.
Collecting the funds is expected to ‘force’ private vehicle users to shift to public transports.
For the government, the funds can be used to boost the acceleration of the conversion of fossil energy to green and renewable energy.
Unfortunately, the decision was made in haste.
As a result, Sudirman’s idea was met with a barrage of protests. Some people even accused it as pungli (illegal levies).
Therefore, in order not be the subject of ridicule, the government must clarify the legal bases.
The government’s argument that refers to Article 29 of Law Number 30 of 2007 on Energy is a very flimsy argument. The article does not regulate at all the provisions of collection of funds through the prices of fuel.
Meanwhile, the Government Regulation Number 79 of 2014 on National Energy Policy does not provide detailed procedures on collecting the funds.
The solution is that the government has to formulate special regulation for the plan.
However, the problem does not stop at legal bases only.
Who will manage the funds? The government, state-owned enterprises or a special institution?
How transparent would the use of the funds be? If there are no detailed regulations, we fear that the funds will only become sources of new corruption cases.
As for the conversion of fossil energy to biofuel and renewable energy, the government should understand that collecting the funds is not a cure-all.
So far, the problem lies in the fact that the government has not paid much attention to green energy.
For example the government once obliged 20 percent mix of palm oil for bio solar.
However, this policy is also now abandoned.
These are some problems that explain why the target of Indonesia’s energy policy in 2025, that is the use of biofuel reaching 5 percent and renewable energy reaching 17 percent, is difficult to be met.
It is likely that only half of the targets, according to the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), will be met.
Now the time has come for President Joko Widodo to close ranks to meet the target of the renewable energy instead of just talking nonsense or making a reckless decision.
(*)
