Govt toughens stance on mining

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta

The Ministry of Forestry will issue new regulations to establish strict conditions for firms operating in protected forests, in a bid to minimize environmental destruction.

The regulations are part of the ministry's attempt to help restore its tarnished image after the endorsement of a controversial government regulation in lieu of law that allows a number of mining firms to resume open-pit operations in the areas.

Spokesman of the Ministry of Forestry Transtoto Handadhari said several decrees were being prepared by the ministry to limit the potential destruction caused by mining operations on natural forests and the environment nearby.

"Under the decrees, mining firms are expected to be more accountable for any slight environmental damage resulting from their operations," Transtoto told a media briefing on Wednesday.

Transtoto said that under the regulations, the firms would have to deposit funds with the government, which would be used to finance the rehabilitation of their mining site after their concession expired.

"The deposits are to ensure that firms do not ignore their responsibility to rehabilitate mining sites," he said.

Although the amount of the deposit had yet to be decided, a source at the ministry said that it would be at least Rp 1 trillion (US$111 million) for each firm, depending on the size of their concession area and the type of their mining products.

In exchange for a concession, firms would also have to provide a plot of land larger than their concession if they operated in a province whose natural forest accounted for less than 30 percent of its total land area, he said.

Transtoto said the ministry would allow a year for firms to meet the requirements, otherwise their licenses would be revoked.

The House of Representatives endorsed last week a government regulation in lieu of law that allows mining firms to resume open-pit operations in protected forests, along with a presidential decree that grants licenses to 13 mining firms to operate in such areas.

Transtoto said, however, that under the proposed regulations, the 13 firms could not automatically operate in protected forests as they had to secure an operating permit from the ministry. The ministry would only issue permits for areas that had proven mineral deposits.

The ministry will issue a permit after a recommendation from a joint team, which includes representatives from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

Firms will have to renew their license every five years, and if the ministry discovers any violation covered by forestry legislation, the license will immediately be revoked.

Transtoto said another crucial ruling in the regulations was that the ministry would divide each of the concessions into blocks, meaning that a firm could not mine the next block unless it had rehabilitated the previous one.

Elsewhere, executive director of Greenomics Indonesia Elfian Effendi said that based on international practice, the 13 firms should lodge a rehabilitation deposit totaling around Rp 154.7 trillion (US$17 billion).