Government having dificulty dealing with illegal miners<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): Minister of Mines and Energy Kuntoro
\nMangkusubroto admitted on Friday that the government was having
\ndifficulty in dealing with rampant illegal mining throughout the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
He said the government had been dealing with the problem by
\norganizing local miners into cooperatives and giving technical
\ntraining to small-scale miners.<\/p>\n
"The ministry has run a pilot project for small mining
\ncooperatives, but we found the problem was very complex," Kuntoro
\nsaid in commenting on a mudslide which killed 26 illegal gold
\nminers in Cipongkor, West Java, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said poverty was one of the main causes of mushrooming
\nillegal gold and coal mining over the last two years when the
\ncountry first became mired in the economic crisis, and any
\nsolution to the problem should be based on an integrated program.<\/p>\n
"Besides, there were financial backers who took advantage of
\npoor people, financing their illegal mining operations. But it
\nwas the financiers who took most of the benefits," Kuntoro said.<\/p>\n
Kuntoro said that small-scale mining endangered not only the
\nminers themselves but also the environment and other people,
\nespecially when mercury was used to assay gold.<\/p>\n
"Metal waste dumped in the Kahayan and Barito rivers, Central
\nKalimantan, reaches 100 metric tons per year. Although the real
\ndamage would not become obvious until after 10 to 15 years, its
\nimpact would be as devastating as the Minamata tragedy," Kuntoro
\nwarned, referring to the Minamata Coast tragedy in Japan where
\ntoxic contaminated fish caused death and physical defects.<\/p>\n
"The problem has to be handled seriously. We don't want to
\nlose a generation," he said. (43)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-having-dificulty-dealing-with-illegal-miners-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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