May 24, 2026 | 04:35 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) doubts the government's policy to transfer natural resource exports to a state-owned enterprise could cut down on corruption practices. "We doubt that the government regulation on natural resource export was geared towards the spirit of corruption eradication," said ICW researcher Yassar Aulia on Sunday, May 24, 2026.President Prabowo Subianto has recently issued a government regulation on the governance of export commodities of natural resources. To implement this policy, the government has established PT Danantara SDI.The regulation will enter into force in June 2026, for three strategic commodities, namely palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys.Yassar's concerns emerged amid the worry that PT DSDI would be legally immune, making it difficult to investigate corruption practices within the company. "Monopoly without a guarantee that PT DSDI will not enjoy legal impunity to be audited and effectively monitored, will only shift the potential for corruption to more influential actors," he said.Corruption practices in exports are far from novel, according to Yassar, as the Attorney General's Office has probed several corruption cases linked to exports. The most recent is the export of crude palm oil (CPO) disguised as palm oil mill effluent (POME) in the 2022-2024 period.Authorities identified 11 suspects in the case, with 4 state officials and seven business actors. Investigations for the case are underway, where the suspects were allegedly disguising CPO exports as POME for lower export tax and evading government policies during the cooking oil shortage.Another corruption case regarding palm oil export involved Wilmar Group, Musim Mas Group, and Permata Hijau Group. Initially, the panel of judges acquitted the three corporations, but it was later overturned by the Supreme Court.According to Yassar, the corruption eradication and prevention ecosystem during the Prabowo administration is out of shape, and the new regulation will only trigger "further public distrust" against the government for its desire to control state revenue to "fund the president's priority programs without checks and balances."Read: Indonesia Urges Investors to Trust Danantara Export PolicyClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News
