Govt allows mining firms back into protected areas as investment lure<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja\/Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has issued a regulation in lieu of law (perpu)
\nthat will allow 13 mining companies to resume their operations in
\nprotected forests in a bid to provide legal certainty for
\ninvestors.<\/p>\n
The decision was greeted by protests from environmental
\nactivists, who said it would open the way for the further
\ndestruction of the country's natural resources.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister of the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti
\nsaid it was decided during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday to issue
\nPerpu No. 1\/2004 to address the issue of mining concessions that
\noverlap with protected forests.<\/p>\n
\"The 13 mining companies will be allowed to resume their
\nmining activities because they have proven reserves and are
\neconomically viable,\" Dorodjatun said after the meeting.<\/p>\n
He added that the decision was aimed at providing certainty to
\ninvestors in a bid to increase the sluggish investment in the
\nmining sector.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri led the meeting, which was
\nalso attended by Minister of Law and Human Rights Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo
\nYusgiantoro and Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa.<\/p>\n
In the country's legal system, a perpu is equal to a law and
\nis normally issued in cases of emergencies in order to avoid the
\nlengthy process of law making, which involves the House of
\nRepresentatives. A perpu immediately takes effect and remains so
\nuntil the House approves a law to replace it. The government may
\nalso propose the perpu as a bill.<\/p>\n
The 13 mining companies to be affected by the perpu are among
\n22 mining firms that appealed to the government to be allowed to
\nresume their operations in protected forests following the
\nimplementation of Law No. 41\/1999 on forests banning open-pit
\nmining in protected forests.<\/p>\n
The remaining nine companies will not be given licenses to
\nresume their mining activities in protected forests because no
\nproven and economically viable reserves have been found in their
\nareas.<\/p>\n
The 22 firms received contracts from the government several
\nyears ago before the law on forests came into effect, and their
\nconcession areas were not designated as protected forests at the
\ntime the contracts were signed.<\/p>\n
The names of the 13 mining companies affected by the perpu was
\nnot available on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Lambock V. Nahattands, deputy state secretary for legal
\naffairs, said the government regulation basically added a new
\narticle to Law No. 41\/1999 on forests.<\/p>\n
\"The new article, 83a, says all mining licenses and agreements
\nin forests that were in place prior to the imposition of Law No.
\n41\/1999 will remain in effect until the agreement or license
\nexpires,\" Lambock said.<\/p>\n
He said the perpu would be submitted to the House as a bill,
\nand that the government would issue a presidential decree on the
\n13 mining companies.<\/p>\n
Environmental activists who had fought to prevent the issuance
\nof the licenses protested the decision.<\/p>\n
Longgena Ginting, executive director of the Indonesian Forum
\nfor the Environment (Walhi), said the government not only
\nviolated its own law but also the global commitment to stop the
\ndestruction of biodiversity.<\/p>\n
\"We regret the decision. It is the legalization of the
\ndestruction of natural resources,\" Longgena told The Jakarta
\nPost, adding that Walhi would take legal action against the
\ndecision and hold an international campaign to protest the move.<\/p>\n
Government to issue forest crime law<\/p>\n
The government will issue a government regulation in lieu of
\nlaw (perpu) to deal with illegal logging in an emergency measure
\nto stop the rapid destruction of the nation's forests.<\/p>\n
Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa said the new regulation would
\nbecome a special law on illegal logging outside the current
\ncriminal law.<\/p>\n
\"Illegal logging has become an acute problem. Efforts to stop
\nillegal logging have been hampered by inadequate laws that cannot
\nprovide a fast solution or proper punishment to the culprits,\"
\nPrakosa said after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The perpu will enable law enforcement officials to try illegal
\nloggers immediately after they are arrested, and will allow
\nauthorities to confiscate materials used in the crime, including
\nany vehicles or boats used to transport illegally cut logs.<\/p>\n
The regulation will also contain severe punishments for those
\ninvolved in illegal logging.<\/p>\n
\"All parties involved in illegal logging are considered forest
\nterrorists. That is why the punishments should match those for
\nterrorism,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Prakosa said a team was now discussing the special law on
\nillegal logging, and expected it to be issued soon. -- JP<\/p>",
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