Maryati Abdullah

I’m interested in transparency and accountability issues because it is very important to endorse good governance. There are lots of anti-corruption initiatives, but we also need more groundwork on the sectoral issue.

I became interested in extractive transparency when I learned (for the first time) how the revenues of petroleum and mining were flowing from exploitation, how much they contributed to the national income and the share to the local government in the extractive producer areas. It is really important for me now (as a civil society representative) to deal with government and company entities in MSG of Indonesia’s EITI.
Citizens living at the grassroots level face many challenges: they are confronted by the state concession on mining and are fighting for their livelihood. The Government needs endorsement and assistance from civil society on how to use extractive revenues for social welfare and justice, such as through development planning and budgeting process.

The other thing that makes me happy to work on this issue is that I find it really interesting talking to grassroots communities and discussing the impact of extractive operations – not just explaining the effects to them but also learning from them. There is a lot of local wisdom we can learn from, on how they have dealt with the risks of extractive operations.