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span class="inline inline-left">JP/Ricky Yudhistira.Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Widjajono Partowidagdo died on Saturday during an attempt to scale Mount Tambora (2,851 meters) in Dompu, West Nusa Tenggara. He was 60.

Widjajono is survived by his wife, Nina Septi Triarwati, and his 15-year-old daughter, Kristal Amalia.

“He was exhausted and fainted at Post 3 during the climb,” West Nusa Tenggara’s provincial spokesman, Lalu Moh Faozal, said on Saturday afternoon.

Widjajono was reportedly unfit during the ascent as, on several occasions, he had to stop and rest, according to Abdul Haris, an official with the Tambora Monitoring Office.

Muhammad Nur, the provincial administration secretary who was also on the climb, said the deputy minister died of a heart attack.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was informed about the incident at 3:30 p.m. by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik. “The President immediately asked the minister to bring [Widjajono’s] body back from Sumbawa,” presidential spokesman, Julian Aldrin Pasha, said.

Widjajono was known for his passion for mountain climbing, a sport he began to indulge in while still in high school. He had climbed numerous mountains across the archipelago, including Mt Kerinci, Mt Rinjani and Mt Semeru, the highest peak on Java Island.

Eko Bambang Sutedjo, an official with West Nusa Tenggara’s mining office, said Widjajono had visited the province to attend the corn harvest in Dompu regency and set off to climb right after the event.

Among the ministers in Yudhoyono’s Cabinet, Widjajono was easily recognizable due to his long hair.

Born in Magelang, Central Java, Widjajono was a professor at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and a member of the National Energy Council (DEN) before he was asked to become a deputy minister.

Widjajono, who was a nonpolitical appointee, quickly received media attention for his down-to-earth attire, wearing mostly denim pants, batik shirts and a ripped sling bag.

He was also known for his “no-nonsense approach” whenever he discussed the country’s energy policy in public.

On several occasions, he argued that the government should increase the current price of subsidized fuel of Rp 4,500 (49 US cents) per liter by at least 33 percent to prevent overspending of the state budget.

The plan to raise fuel prices was halted by the House of Representatives on March 30.

Widjajono was also known for his controversial statement that Indonesia, a former member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), was not an oil-rich country.

“He was a thinker who could be controversial at times; exposing facts to the public that they may not have known before,” said Jero.

Commenting on Widjajono’s death, Pri Agung Rakhmanto, an energy expert from the ReforMiner Institute, said Indonesia had “lost one of its best men in developing the country’s energy sector”.

“We have also lost a government official who dared to raise a lot of brilliant ideas without succumbing to bureaucracy’s low standards.”

Golkar Party lawmaker Satya W. Yudha, a member of the House of Representatives’ Commission VII on energy and natural mineral resources, was “shocked to hear the horrible news of Widjajono’s death”. “We still need nonpartisan people like him in the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry,” he said.

Herman Agustiawan, a member of the National Energy Council, applauded Widjajono for his courage in showing his “one-of-a-kind approach” in relation to the country’s energy issues in a relatively short period of time.

Widjajono’s body was due to be flown to Jakarta at 7 p.m. Jakarta time on Saturday, arriving at his residence on Jl. Ciragil II, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, at around 9:30 p.m. (asa)

— Arya Dipa contributed to this story