PPP to push for House inquiry into Tangguh LNG Contract

Jakarta, NU Online
The United Development Party (PPP) leadership is to encourage its faction in the House of Representatives (DPR) to move the House to use its right of inquiry on the Tangguh LNG (liquefied natural gas) contract with China signed in 2002 under the Megawati Soekarnoputri presidency, a party official said.

"It is now still an idea but we (the PPP executive board) will discuss it with our faction in the House. Whatever the mechanism that has to be followed, there must be concrete action on this issue," PPP Secretary General Irgan Chairul Mahfiz was quoted by Antara news agency as saying here Wednesday.<>

The inquiry into the LNG contract with China should be conducted by a special House committee and not be made part of the task of the existing House Fuel Oil Price Hike Inquiry Committee, he said.

Mahfiz said the LNG deal with China must be investigated as it was believed to have caused the state to suffer a potential loss of hundreds of trillions of rupiah.

The government policy that resulted in the contract`s signing needed to be examined to determine whether the LNG price in the contract had been set at an inordinately low level by design or whether any corrupt act had been committed in the process leading to the contract`s signing, he said.

He said the inquiry should not be seen as a politically motivated move to discredit former President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the present leader of the Indonesian Democracy Party-Struggle (PDIP).

"This is not a political matter but purely a question involving the people`s interest. If it has repercussions for Megawati, that would only be logical because she was the head of government at the time," he said.

Purnomo Yusgiantoro who was then minister of energy and mineral resources must also be questioned about the LNG contract with China, Mahfiz added.

If the inquiry showed that the abnormally low LNG price in the contract with China was the result of irregularities, legal sanctions must be applied to those responsible, he said.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla had recently said the LNG contract with China was signed in gross violation of existing rules and extremely disadvantageous to Indonesia.

The LNG price in the contract was set at 3.3 US dollars per Million British Thermal Units (MMBTU) while the natural gas price in the world market now stood at around 20 US dollars per MMBTU.

If the LNG price in the 25-year contract with China was not changed, Indonesia stood to lose no less than 75 billion US dollars by the deal, Kalla said. (dar)