Gold mining contractors threaten to withdraw
Gold mining contractors threaten to withdraw
JAKARTA (JP): Four Australian gold mining contractors are
threatening to relinquish their concessions in West Kalimantan
because illegal miners are trespassing on their operations.
The Director General of General Mining at the Ministry of
Mines and Energy, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, said yesterday after a
hearing with the Manufacturing, Mining and Energy Commission of
the House of Representatives that three of the four companies are
PT Montrado, PT Aluvial Jaya and PT Istara.
He said he did not remember the name of the fourth contractor.
He said PT Montrado has begun production development, while
the other three are still in the exploration stage.
"They cannot continue their operations because their
concession areas have been tapped by illegal miners," Kuntoro
said.
He called the problem of illegal miners in West Kalimantan
"very serious".
Unauthorized prospector also have been disturbing gold mining
contractors in Central Kalimantan and North Sulawesi. "We have
received many complaints from gold mining companies in these
provinces," he added.
Kuntoro said that a lack of coordination among related
government agencies is hindering efforts to solve the problem of
illegal miners.
"It's a cross-sectoral problem. So, we cannot solve it by
ourselves without the involvement of local government agencies
and the ministries of forestry, transmigration and environment,"
Kuntoro said.
Coordination
"It is time for the government to coordinate efforts to cope
with the problem of illegal gold miners once and for all,"
Kuntoro said.
Members of the commission asked the government to be careful
in handling the unauthorized gold prospectors because the
distinction between illegal miners and traditional miners is not
very clear.
"It's all right to evict illegal miners, but be sure that the
local traditional miners will be protected," Sunaryo Hadade said.
"If the areas tapped by traditional gold miners are given to
foreign contractors, the government should pay adequate
compensation to these local people."
Responding to Sunaryo's suggestion, Kuntoro said illegal gold
mining was done not by the local people, but by migrants who
brought in money and technology.
"It's all right for them to do mining as long as they do it
legally. Even for traditional miners, we encourage modernizing
their mining systems. And when they have become small-scale
miners, they have to be legalized as well," Kuntoro said.
Kuntoro said that of the 110 gold mining contracts awarded to
joint venture companies in the early 1980s, only 50 are still
operating. The others have abandoned their concessions because of
unprofitable deposits. (rid)