T

he government is being urged to start drawing up a road map of it's strategy to accommodate domestic energy requirements in the future.

Makmur Keliat, a lecturer from the School of International Relations at the University of Indonesia (UI), said Monday the government had been taking action based on its annual programs to determine what steps to take to meet the public needs for energy, including oil and gas.

However, he said, the government had not set a clear strategy for the next 25 years to meet goals ensuring safe and secure energy supplies, and promoting sustainable energy.

Makmur said developed countries, like the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, had developed such road maps.

Makmur added that the energy white papers should contain various implementation strategies as part of the government's programs to facilitate proper spending of stimulus and subsidies for energy, like oil and gas.

"The government has been inefficiently controlling the country's energy supplies. Therefore it should manage energy as a strategic commodity, of which its capacity for sustainability should be tightly supervised," he said, adding that the government was currently managing energy as a market commodity.

"Its stocks and prices depend on market mechanisms, which includes investment and the roles of exporters and importers in the market," he said during a seminar on energy security at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java.

Separately, Agusman Effendi, member of the National Energy Council, told The Jakarta Post that problems that hampered the government in making long-term objectives for the energy sector were the practical implementations in the mining industry, including exploration, exploitation, mining regulations and stakeholders.

He acknowledged the government did not always reach its targets during the exploration and exploitation of new and existing resources.

"Many short-term targets do not practically apply. This will lead to the government's policy changes," he said.

Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) executive director Priyo Pribadi Soemarno recently said weak investment was mostly due to regulatory problems.

Lawmakers endorsed a new mining law in December last year. The government is required to issue implementing regulations for mining areas, coal and mineral businesses, mining supervision, and finally on reclamation and post-mining issues.

However, the government has delayed the issuance of the regulations.