Babel DPRD Chair Urges Central Government to Address Plight of Artisanal Tin Miners

The Chairman of the Bangka Belitung Islands DPRD, Didit Srigusjaya, has urged the central government to address the plight of artisanal tin miners who are struggling to sell their output. Speaking after receiving representatives from miners in West Belitung who raised concerns about tin trading procedures, he said the regional parliament would also request discretion from the central government to establish a policy or legal certainty for the miners. “The people need a solution,” he stated.

He noted that the miners’ main grievance is that the economy in Belitung is currently in poor shape. “No one wants to buy tin, and if there is a buyer, the price is very low, so the impact is felt across all sectors,” he said. Didit Srigusjaya explained that the issue is not that state-owned PT Timah is unwilling to purchase tin from the community, particularly from areas within its Mining Business Permit, but rather that there is currently no legal certainty because the company’s Work Plan and Budget document has not yet been issued. He added that the pending PT Timah work plan reportedly limits the purchasing quota to only 3,600 tonnes. “Meanwhile, based on the data I have received, there are already 4,000 tonnes of community tin stored in PT Timah’s own warehouses from its partners,” he said.

Didit questioned what would happen to the tin if the work plan continued to be delayed, expressing concern that it could open the door to tin ore smuggling and potentially cause state losses. He also warned that if the issue is allowed to drag on, royalty revenues for the Bangka Belitung Islands Province would decline. “Furthermore, the people’s economy will stagnate, and because this is a matter of survival, we are also worried about potential disruptions to public order,” he said. Didit stated that the DPRD would follow up on the matter with the central government as the mining community urgently needs a concrete solution.

Belitung Vice Regent Syamsir stressed that the regional government is ready to directly advocate for the people’s aspirations to receive special attention from the central government. According to the vice regent, the situation on the ground has reached a very alarming stage. “We will immediately convey the latest situation to the central government. It should not be that people struggle desperately just to sell a kilo or two, and the price is very worrying. So, we ask for the opportunity to move together on this,” he said. The vice regent explained that the obstacles in trading mining products have a direct impact on the fulfilment of basic household needs, with many local miners now struggling to make a living and pay for their children’s education. He emphasised that the issue is no longer merely a regulatory problem but concerns the right to life of many people that must be urgently safeguarded. “Under these conditions, the state must be present. We in the regional government are ready, because this concerns the right to life of many people, especially our citizens who earn a living in the mining sector,” he said.