House ready to help Timah resolve illegal mining problem: Legislator
House ready to help Timah resolve illegal mining problem: Legislator
Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives is ready, if needed, to help
state-owned tin mining giant PT Timah seek ways of resolving
rampant illegal mining activities at its mining sites on Bangka
and Belitung islands.
Legislator Ramson S. of House Commission VIII overseeing
environmental, science, and technology affairs said that the
commission would invite Timah to discuss the problem.
"We (the House) can then set up a coordination system with
both central and local administrations to put an end to those
illegal practices," Ramson told The Jakarta Post over the
weekend.
However, he did not provide details as to when the meeting
could take place, saying it was for Timah to decide.
His comment followed a recent remark made by the company
before an industrial meeting in London that appeals to the
government to halt the illegal operations had fallen on deaf
ears.
Timah, which is also a publicly listed company, said that
rampant illegal tin mining had contributed to pressure on the
price of the commodity, which has already been badly hit by the
world's economic recession.
The international price of tin is currently hovering at
US$3,800 per ton, which is far below the ideal price of $5,500 to
$6,200 per ton.
According to Dadang Yogi Barata, Timah's chief of marketing
offices for the U.S. and Europe, there are over 30,000 illegal
tin miners in Bangka and Belitung.
As reported by Antara, Dadang said: "They could produce as
much as 40,000 tons per year, which is around the same as PT
Timah's yearly production."
That huge amount of production would weigh heavily against the
international price, Dadang went on.
The price for tin posted a 30-year low in August when it
reached $3,630 per ton.
"Illegal mining activities also occur in other places, but not
as severely as in Indonesia. In Brazil and China, they have
managed to keep the number of illegal operations low thanks to
their strict measures against those responsible," Dadang said.
"That's what Indonesia is lacking at the moment."
Timah was in London to participate in an informal forum, the
London Metals Exchange week, which was concluded on Oct. 25.
Apart from PT Timah, the world's largest tin producer, the
forum was also attended by other top companies, including PT Koba
(an Australian-Indonesian company), Murchison United of Australia
and Minsur of Peru.
During the meeting, participants called on the Indonesian
government to speed up efforts to put an end to rampant
unlicensed operations in the islands.
Elsewhere, Ramson also said that concrete action needed to be
taken to curb illegal mining activity in order to maintain
foreign investor confidence in entering the country's mining
sector.
"We need to find an immediate solution to this mess because it
will damage our image even further," he said.
Last month, Timah president Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas
predicted a serious nosedive in net profits for this year as well
as possible big losses next year if the government failed to
resolve the problem immediately.