Legislator denies accepting money from contractors<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives' Commission VI for
\nindustry, mining, manpower and investment denied yesterday a
\nnewspaper report alleging House members have accepted money from
\nmining firms to speed up the examination of their applications
\nfor concessions.<\/p>\n
"I strongly deny the Kontan business weekly's story. We have
\nnever even met with any of the mining firms," Lili Asdjudiredja,
\ndeputy chairman of the commission, told The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The Kontan tabloid reported yesterday that the applicants of
\nthe Seventh Generation mining Contract of Works (COWs) had been
\nasked to pay Rp 20 million (about US$7,900) per application for
\nfinancing the commission's tour of inspection across the country.<\/p>\n
The tour program, whereby commission members visit the
\nprovinces where concessions applied for by mining contractors are
\nlocated, is part of the deliberation procedure before the
\ncommission "approves" the draft COWs.<\/p>\n
The tabloid said the money was given to the commission through
\nthe Directorate General of Mining.<\/p>\n
"The House always uses its own budget to finance working
\nvisits by its members on any tour to the provinces," said Lili,
\nwho is from the Golkar faction.<\/p>\n
The mining laws require draft COWs to be consulted with the
\nHouse before being approved by the President.<\/p>\n
The Mines and Energy Ministry submitted 164 Seventh Generation
\ndraft COWs to the commission on July 21 for deliberation.<\/p>\n
Consultation<\/p>\n
Contractors expect consultation with the House will be
\ncompleted during the tenure of the current House, ending in
\nSeptember.<\/p>\n
They are afraid that if the current House fails to complete
\ntheir examination of the draft COWs before September, the
\nexamination will be taken over by the new House which will be
\ninstalled on Oct. 1. This means the process of examining COWs
\nwill start from the beginning again.<\/p>\n
Some commission members, including Iskandar Mandji of Golkar,
\nearlier hinted that the commission might demand changes to the
\ndraft COWs to give the government or state-owned companies a
\nstake in new mining ventures.<\/p>\n
Mining analysts said Mandji's move had made contractors worry
\nthat the process of consultation with the House wouldn't be
\nsmooth.<\/p>\n
Lili assured yesterday that the consultation process would be
\nsmooth and fast as was the process of consultation regarding
\ndraft COWs of the previous generations.<\/p>\n
He said the laws gave the House no right to make substantial
\nchanges to the COWs, but only to examine the COWs and, based on
\nthe inputs they gathered during their tour to the provinces, they
\ncould recommend some changes.<\/p>\n
The government can either accept or reject the proposed
\nchanges, he said.<\/p>\n
"That's the meaning of the word 'consultation' in our mining
\nlaws. Draft COWs are different from a bill, which the House can
\nchange before giving its approval," said Lili.<\/p>\n
The 1967 Mining Law No 20 says in Chapter 10: "COWs become
\neffective once the government approves them after consultation
\nwith the House of Representatives."<\/p>\n
Lili said the commission's members had visited various
\nprovinces during the current recess period to gather inputs from
\nthe local people and local administrations regarding the
\nconcessions covered by the 164 draft COWs.<\/p>\n
According to Lili, the commission's members will hold a
\nhearing with the Director General of Mining next month in the
\nfinal stage of consultations about the draft COWs.<\/p>\n
The commission will then submit recommendations to the
\nDirector General of Mining.<\/p>\n
"We hope the whole process can be completed by Sept. 15," Lili
\nsaid. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legislator-denies-accepting-money-from-contractors-1447893297",
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