Controversial mining regulation may be rejected by House
Controversial mining regulation may be rejected by House
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta
Most legislators deliberating a controversial government
regulation in lieu of law on mining expressed their opposition on
Wednesday to a provision in the regulation that allows 13 mining
firms to resume their operations in protected forests.
Herman Widyananda, the chairman of the House of
Representatives' special committee assigned to deliberate the
regulation, said that although it was not yet final, most of the
committee members were determined to reject it.
"Most of the team members are likely to annul the regulation
as we suspect there may have been some irregularities involved
given that it was issued in a hurry when the House was in
recess," said Herman after a meeting with Minister of Forestry M.
Prakosa and Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim.
The House special committee deliberating the regulation
consists of legislators from Commission VIII on energy and
Commission III on forestry and agriculture. The approval of the
House is needed in order for the regulation to take binding
effect.
The government issued the regulation in March, and it allows
open-pit mining in protected forests as long as the mining
companies had signed contracts with the government prior to the
enactment of Law No. 41/1999 on forestry, which prohibits open-
pit mining in protected forests.
The regulation was issued to provide an immediate solution to
a dispute between the government and several mining firms whose
operations had to be halted following the enactment of Law No.
41/1999. The dispute had been going on for more than two years.
To follow up on the implementation of the regulation, the
government issued Decree No. 41/2004 in May to allow 13 mining
firms to operate in protected forests.
Herman, who is from the Golkar Party, said that if the
regulation was revoked, the country should be ready to face the
legal repercussions as the result of the filing of claims by the
13 firms in international arbitration courts.
"According to one study, we would have to pay US$22.7 billion
if we lose these cases. This amount, however, is nothing compared
to the losses that would result from the destruction of our
virgin forests in the future," he said.
The House is expected to give its final say on the regulation
on July 15, just one day before it goes into recess.
Aside from questioning the impact of the mining operations on
the surrounding environment, the legislators also questioned the
process of selecting the 13 firms, which they said was not
transparent.
"We have not received satisfactory answers from either Prakosa
or Nabiel regarding transparency during the selection of the
companies. Prakosa seemed to be trying to avoid answering our
questions," said Herman.
Another team member, Tari Siwi Utami of the National Awakening
Party (PKB), said some of the 13 firms were not among the list of
22 mining companies previously proposed by the government for the
receipt of licenses to operate in protected forests.
"Some of the 13 companies are not among the 22 qualified firms
that it was previously proposed would get licenses. We feel there
is a lack of transparency here," said Tari to Prakosa during the
hearing.
Prakosa readily admitted that the 13 firms had been selected
as they had a "serious intention and major potential to take
their cases to international arbitration, while the other firms
were not that serious."
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Concessions of the 13 mining companies
Name Area Concession
1. Freeport Indonesia Mimika, Papua 10,000 ha
Freeport Indonesia Puncak Jayawijaya, Papua 202,380 ha
2. Karimun Granit Riau 2,761 ha
3. INCO Sulawesi (North Luwu, Kolaka, Kendari,
Morowali 218,828 ha
4. Indominco Mandiri East Kutai, E. Kalimantan 25,121 ha
5. Aneka Tambang North Maluku 39,040 ha
6. Natarang Mining Lampung 12,790 ha
7. Nusa Halmahera Mineral North Maluku 29,622 ha
8. Pelsart Tambang Kencana South Kalimantan 201,000 ha
9. Interex Sacra Raya East Kalimantan, South
Kalimantan 15,860 ha
10. Weda Bay Nickel Central Halmahera,
North Maluku 76,280 ha
11. Gag Nikel Sorong, Papua 13,130 ha
12. Sorikmas Mining North Sumatra 66,200 ha
13. Aneka Tambang Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi 14,570 ha
Source: Ministry of Forestry