PRIME NEWS POST
The INDONESIAN ,(BANDA ACEH) — Rifqi Maulana, S.H., Chairman of the Aceh Chapter of the Indonesian Law Students Association (PERMAHI), has drawn attention to the restricted authority of the Aceh Oil and Gas Management Agency (BPMA) in administering massive gas reserves located in waters beyond the 12‑nautical‑mile territorial limit within the Andaman Block.
Rifqi noted that this discovery — regarded as one of Indonesia’s most significant resource finds in decades — should serve to strengthen Aceh’s standing in natural‑resource governance, rather than reduce the province to one that bears impacts but holds no strategic voice in decision‑making.
“The fundamental question is straightforward: how can resources located within Aceh’s sphere be managed while Aceh’s authority is limited? This is far more than an administrative technicality; it touches on fair resource stewardship and respect for Aceh’s special status as guaranteed under law,” Rifqi said on Friday, 19 June 2026.
He explained that the legal framework granting Aceh special autonomy through the Aceh Governance Law was designed precisely to give the region greater leeway to manage its strategic assets. Consequently, the present restriction limiting BPMA’s jurisdiction to within 12 nautical miles merits joint review by the Aceh provincial government and the central government.
If Aceh is reduced to a mere administrative auxiliary while all key decisions remain firmly in central hands, Rifqi argued, the core purpose of decentralisation and special autonomy loses its substance.
“This effort is not simply about competing jurisdictions — it is about ensuring the people of Aceh receive a fair share of the benefits derived from what lies beneath their waters. We must not repeat the old pattern of resource exploitation, where producing regions receive only a fraction while the bulk of economic value accrues elsewhere,” he stated.
Rifqi recalled Aceh’s long history as a major national oil‑and‑gas producer — a contribution that in the past did not translate proportionately into improved welfare for local communities.
That is why, he said, the development of the Andaman Block must be structured to generate broad‑based economic gains: prioritising local employment, building local workforce capabilities, developing downstream industries, and securing sustainable revenue streams for the region.
“Gas must not simply be extracted from Aceh, while processing infrastructure, industrial activity, and economic value‑added shift entirely to other provinces. If that happens, Aceh is once again reduced to watching its own wealth flow away,” he emphasised.
PERMAHI Aceh also urged the provincial government and all stakeholders to advance a clear legal and policy agenda aimed at strengthening BPMA’s mandate over offshore oil‑and‑gas zones. This step is essential to ensure Aceh acts not merely as a recipient of development, but as a primary architect of how its natural wealth is managed.
Rifqi further invoked Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, which mandates that state control over natural resources must serve the greatest benefit of the people. Accordingly, success in developing the Andaman Block cannot be measured only by investment levels or production volumes — it must be measured by how tangibly the benefits reach the people of Aceh.
“The Andaman gas field should be an instrument to build Aceh’s economic self‑reliance, not just a statistic in national energy output. If the province bears environmental and social burdens while the economic rewards go elsewhere, we face a fundamental fairness issue that demands collective scrutiny,” he concluded.
PERMAHI Aceh views the discovery at Andaman as a turning‑point to strengthen Aceh’s standing within national energy governance — ensuring that natural wealth truly becomes a pathway to shared prosperity and equitable regional development.
Reported from various media sources //photo from Google documents // contribution by Prime News Post international online media // news.paper
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