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In a move to address persistent allegations of corruption in the multibillion dollar oil and gas sector, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on Friday appointed an officer of the Corruption Eradication Commission to the board of directors of upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas.

Lambok Hamonangan, the director of gratuity oversight at the commission, better known as the KPK, was inaugurated as BPMigas’s deputy for evaluation and legal advocacy, a newly created position.

The energy regulator has long been the subject of corruption allegations and experts have pointed out that the institution was under no clear state oversight.

Raden Priyono, who heads BPMigas, said the appointment of Lambok should help allay public concerns about lack of transparency and oversight in the regulator.

“[Lambok] will monitor not only the internal workings of BPMigas and the work of the other deputies, but also that of oil and gas contractors,” Priyono said.

Lambok will also be expected to help maximize state oil and gas revenues “through achieving greater cost efficiencies,” Priyono added.

In a bizarre incident in August, BPMigas Deputy Chairman Hardiono was apprehended at Norway’s Stavanger Airport with $54,000 in undeclared cash while on an official tour to promote foreign investment in Indonesia’s oil industry.

Priyono, also one of the 11 tour members, told reporters that he had ordered Hardiono to bring the cash “because credit cards are often unreliable.”

Last year, BPMigas was accused by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) of maintaining 21 clandestine accounts that had not been declared to the Ministry of Finance.

Then in April, allegations of abuses in the BPMigas administered cost-recovery scheme were raised by the BPK, which highlighted five cases of irregularities believed to have cost taxpayers Rp 14.58 trillion ($1.5 billion).

Following a public outcry, partly fanned by media reports, the government and the House of Representatives agreed to work together to minimize abuses of the scheme by redefining upstream and downstream costs.

Firdaus Ilyas, Indonesia Corruption Watch’s central data and analysis coordinator, said he feared that Lambok’s appointment was nothing more than window-dressing, adding that what was really needed was a “root-and-branch” reform of the cost-recovery scheme.

He pointed to PT Pertamina’s previous promotion of Waluyo as its vice president of general affairs and human resources. During Waluyo’s term, Firdaus said, he was unable to uncover any corruption. Waluyo was installed as a new interim KPK commissioner on Tuesday.

“The question now is whether Lambok’s appointment is anything more than a move to deflect criticism of the regulator,” Ilyas said.