124 more mining companies to operate in protected forest<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said on Monday that
\nit would give 102 mining firms the chance to operate in protected
\nforests, bringing the total number to 124 firms.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the ministry granted 22 firms the right to mine in
\nprotected forests across the country. Their requests await final
\napproval from the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
"All 124 mining companies that signed contracts before the
\nimplementation of Forestry Law No. 41\/1999 have the same chance
\nto operate in protected forest," said head of the mining
\nenvironmental conservation subdivision at the Ministry of Energy
\nand Mineral Resources Soemarno Witoro.<\/p>\n
"If we only allowed 22 firms, many would ask why the other
\ncompanies were not allowed," said Soemarno, who was accompanied
\nby director general for geology and mineral resources Wimpy S.
\nTjetjep.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Wimpy said mining firms could be proposed to resume
\noperations in protected forest as long as they could indicate
\nthat extensive reserves still remained for exploitation.<\/p>\n
Soemarno agreed with Wimpy, adding that the government would
\nalso consider local support and the firms' location in allowing
\nthem to operate in protected forest.<\/p>\n
Under the forestry law, opencast mining is prohibited in
\nprotected forest.<\/p>\n
Consequently, some 158 mining firms must cease activities as
\ntheir concessions became protected forest.<\/p>\n
The 158 firms later demanded that the government allow them to
\nresume operations in protected forest, saying that soil structure
\nin the country had made it almost impossible to carry out
\ntechniques other than opencast mining.<\/p>\n
The figure then declined to 124 firms as a number of them
\ncanceled their intentions to operate in protected forest for
\nfinancial reasons.<\/p>\n
In June, the government, through the Office of the
\nCoordinating Minister for the Economy, proposed to the House that
\n22 mining firms be allowed to operate in protected forests.<\/p>\n
Among the 22 are PT Gag Nickel, PT Weda Bay, PT Nusa Halmahera
\nMineral, PT Meratus Sumber Mas (now PT Pelsart Tambang Kencana),
\nPT Freeport Indonesia, PT Karimun Granite, PT Natarang Mining, PT
\nIndominco Mandiri, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, PT INCO and PT
\nNabire Bhakti.<\/p>\n
However, the number and names of proposed firms have undergone
\nseveral revisions, with many new firms replacing a lesser number
\nof old firms, many of which are small-scale operations.<\/p>\n
This prompted several non-government organizations and State
\nMinister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim to question the basis
\nfor selecting new firms for proposal to the House.<\/p>\n
The mining industry has generated billion of dollars in
\nrevenue for the country, but conversely, it has also sparked
\nserious environmental damage.<\/p>\n
Soemarno also said the government was preparing a presidential
\ndecree to allow the 22 proposed firms to go ahead with
\nexploration and possible exploitation in protected forests,
\ncombined with preservation of the environment.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) executive
\ndirector Longgena Ginting strongly criticized the government's
\nstatement for allowing all companies that had a contract in 1999
\nto resume operations in protected forest.<\/p>\n
He said the government had no clear direction or criteria in
\nits plan to allow mining firms to operate there.<\/p>\n
Ginting said the environmental cost would be too high if the
\ngovernment allowed mining firms to operate in such locations.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/124-more-mining-companies-to-operate-in-protected-forest-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}