Forest's mining law under review

Forest's mining law under review

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Constitutional Court commenced on Wednesday the hearing of a
demand to revoke a controversial law that allows several mining
companies to operate open-pit mining in protected forests.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie,
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin, Minister of
Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban and Minister of the Environment
Rachmat Witoelar were present at the hearing, which also saw the
presence of representatives of non-governmental organizations as
the plaintiffs.

The NGOs are seeking the revocation of Law No. 19/2004 that
allows 13 companies to resume open-pit mining in protected
forests. The law confirms a government regulation in lieu of the
law on the same issue.

A lawyer representing the NGOs, Uli P. Sihombing, said his
clients particularly opposed the consideration of the law, which
says it is established to provide legal certainty for mining in
forests and to attract investment.

The plaintiffs say the law violates the basic right to enjoy a
good and healthy environment and the principle of sustainable
development.

They also demanded the revocation of the law, saying its
establishment and that of the government regulation in lieu of
the law was illegal.

Aburizal told the court the law was enacted to provide legal
certainty in the mining sector because the prohibition of mining
operations in protected forests, as stipulated in Law No. 41/1999
on forestry, came after the government had granted a number of
mining companies concessions to conduct open-pit mining in
forests.

The government has shortlisted the mining companies granted
the permit from 150 to 13 in a bid to prevent further
environmental destruction, Kaban added.

Hamid claimed that the government had taken into consideration
the principle of sustainable development in issuing the
government regulation and the law, saying the selected mining
companies were subject to strict conditions before, during and
after the operations.

"They must obey a series of conditions for operating in
protected forests in a bid to minimize the adverse impacts of
their operations on the environment," he said.

The government has come under criticism for endorsing the
controversial legislation.

The law, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources and the State Secretary, was endorsed by the
House of Representatives early in September last year.

Some legislators who opposed the bill said a number of their
colleagues were bribed to pass the draft law.