The government plans to speed up the drafting of implementing regulations of the new mining law and to simplify its content.
The director for mineral, coal and geothermal resources at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Bambang Setiawan, said in Jakarta on Friday the implementing regulations should be ready in the next six months.
The newly amended Mining Law says the executive branch must issue all implementing regulations within a year after lawmakers enact the law.
Bambang also said the implementing regulations would be simplified. "We may have at most three to four regulations to cover the 22 issues in the law," he said.
The new law, approved in December after three years of parliamentary squabbling, will in some cases limit areas of exploration, a move intended to benefit small- and medium-sized firms.
It also requires companies to seek separate permits for each phase of mining activity, from seismic surveying and exploration to feasibility studies and construction doing away with the previous territorially fixed, all-in-one contracting frameworks.
Analysts warn this reversal could deter investment by multinational corporations. (and)
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