Illegal miners destroy reclamation area<\/p>\n
PANGKAL PINANG, Bangka Belitung: State-owned nickel mining
\ncompany PT Timah said on Wednesday that about 65 percent of its
\nreclamation area in Bangka Belitung province had been destroyed
\nby illegal miners, forcing a halt to the environmental program.<\/p>\n
As of 2000, the company had rehabilitated 4,662 hectares of
\nclosed mining sites under its reclamation program in the
\nprovince's two islands of Bangka and Belitung, said Timah
\nspokesman Abrun Abubakar in the Bangka regency capital of Pangkal
\nPinang on Wednesday. He said total reclamation costs up to 2002
\namounted to Rp 13.8 billion (US$155,000).<\/p>\n
He added that because thousands of illegal miners had
\ndescended upon Timah's reclamation area in hopes of extracting
\nleftover nickel deposits, Timah had to stop the program in 2001.<\/p>\n
\"If people there don't realize (the problem), the damages (to
\nthe reclamation area) will only increase. After all, the
\nreclamation is meant for the future generation of Bangka-
\nBelitung,\" Abrun said.<\/p>\n
Illegal mining activities are a persistent problem in the
\nmining industry amid weak law enforcement following the 1998
\npolitical reforms.<\/p>\n
Most miners use simple tools, but many investors from Jakarta
\nequip them with excavators and chemicals to tap deposits. They
\noperate without licenses, often threatening existing mining
\noperations, and have little regard for environmental protection.
\n-- Antara<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/illegal-miners-destroy-reclamation-area-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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