A legislator has urged the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to reveal the names of companies violating the domestic market obligation (DMO) amid a decline in national coal supply for electricity generation.

“We urge the ministry’s Directorate General of Mineral and Coal to reveal the data on companies that are disobeying the domestic market obligation directed at fulfilling the coal demand for the state electricity company (PT PLN),” Yulian Gunhar, a member of Commission VII of the House of Representatives (DPR RI), said in a press release issued in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The legislator pointed out that the compliance of coal companies with the DMO directive in 2021 barely reached 1 percent and that contributed to the decline in coal supply, which has threatened the state electricity company’s ability to meet the electricity demand of ten million residents.

He criticized coal companies for prioritizing profit and pressed them to be attentive to the national coal supply issue that is affecting electricity output in Indonesia.

Coal companies must do their bit for the public good as the government has provided many business conveniences to them, he said.

“I suggest the government revoke the license of companies that violate the DMO directive, but companies that adhere to the directive should not be restricted from exporting their products,” Gunhar advised.

Earlier, the government imposed a coal export ban from January 1 until January 31, 2022, to help PT PLN replenish its depleting coal stock.

President Joko Widodo also reminded coal companies to adhere to the domestic market obligation by allocating a percentage of their production for the domestic market.

“The DMO scheme obliges coal companies to allocate some of their coal for PT PLN. This regulation is absolute and should not violate the obligation for any reason,” he said in an online press statement issued from Istana Merdeka in Jakarta on Monday (January 3, 2022).

The President warned coal companies that violating the DMO obligation could lead to their export license being suspended and business license revoked.

He also instructed the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, State-Owned Enterprises Ministry, and PT PLN to devise the necessary measures for protecting the coal supply that the company requires to produce electricity.

Source: Antara News