BIDA loses licensing for sand operations
BIDA loses licensing for sand operations
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Mines and Energy has taken over
the licensing of sand quarrying operations off Batam island and
its neighboring isles in Riau province from the Batam Industrial
Development Authority (BIDA).
Ministry spokesman Budi Sulistiyo said on Friday that the
Ministry took over the quarrying licensing on July 7 this year
and President BJ Habibie, who formerly chaired BIDA, had approved
the change through a presidential decree issued on Aug. 1 this
year.
He said Minister of Mines and Energy Kuntoro Mangkusubroto had
ordered all sand quarrying and dredging companies operating in
the area to renew their licenses with the ministry's Directorate
General of Mining by Jan. 6 next year.
There are currently five companies operating in Batam and its
surroundings with 169,480 hectares of contract areas.
The companies are PT Citra Harapan Abadi which has a quarrying
contract on 7,738 hectares, PT Equator Reka Citra having 12
contract areas covering 65,980 hectares, PT Barelang Sugi Bulan
holding four contract areas totaling 50,702 hectares.
Others are PT Bumi Samudra Argomegah with one contract area of
19,250 hectares and PT Batamatma Mandrasakti with one contract
area of 25,910 hectares.
Budi did not reveal the owners of the companies.
According to Budi, the companies have quarried 312.6 million
cubic meters from the area up to July this year, giving BIDA
S$287.6 million (US$165.2 million) in royalties.
All the sand was exported to Singapore.
Budi said the ministry had thus far awarded 62 licenses for
sand exploration outside Batam and nearby islands, but work had
started at only five of the locations.
The five companies have quarried 52.18 million tons of sand
since 1997, giving the government Rp 10.15 billion (about
$923,000) in royalties.
Sand exploration licenses are valid for two years but can be
extended another year.
Sand production licenses last for 30 years but can be extended
twice for a period of 10 years each time.
The ministry also issues sand transportation and marketing
licenses which are effective for 10 years but can be extended
twice for five years each time. (jsk)