House team to allow four mines to proceed in protected forest

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A special team formed by the House of Representatives has agreed to permit four mining companies to resume open-pit mining operations in protected forests.

"The four mining companies can definitely resume their operations. The special team made the assessment based on the impact of their explorations on the environment, their amount of deposits, and their post-exploration reclamation efforts," team member Achmad Harvizi Kurnain told The Jakarta Post.

The team comprised legislators from the Commission III for forestry and agriculture and Commission VIII for energy and mineral resources; environment; science and technology.

Documents made available to The Post say the four companies are PT Gag Nickel in Gag island, Papua province, PT Weda Bay Nickel in Tabobo, Maluku province, PT Nusa Halmahera in Central Halmahera, Maluku province, and PT Citra Palu Minerals in Palu, Central Sulawesi province.

They are among 22 mining companies recently proposed by the government to be allowed to resume open-pit mining operations in protected forests.

Forestry Law No. 41/1999 bans open-pit mining operations but a clause in the law allows such operations provided there special permits have been issued by the House.

The documents also indicate that the team has delayed assessing the government's proposal regarding four other companies because of a lack of data specifying the locations of their contract areas. These four companies are PT Westralian Atan Minerals, PT Kelian Equatorial Mining, both located in East Kalimantan, PT Meares Soputan Mining in North Sulawesi, and PT Arutmin Indonesia in South Kalimantan.

The team is still studying the government's proposals with regard to the remaining 14 firms.

Mining investors have raised concerns about the 1999 Forestry Law as it was implemented after many of them had conducted expensive exploration in areas that were later designated as protected forests.

Reports said that some 150 companies had been affected by the ruling.

However, the ruling has gained a warm welcome from environmentalists who consider that open-pit mining operations are too dangerous to the environment and cause severe damage to ecosystems. Despite the claims by mining companies that they can restore their mining areas through reclamation, experts believe that reclamation is not able to restore the environment to its former condition.

The Ministry of Forestry was initially strongly opposed to any proposals to allow mining companies to operate open-pit mines. But, it recently toned down its opposition given strong pressures from other ministries, particularly the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, and investors.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Forestry regretted the special team's decision to grant Citra Palu, which is owned by Anglo- Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, a license to resume operation as the company was operating in a highly protected conservation forest, namely Taman Hutan Raya Proboya Peneki in Palu

"There's no chance whatsoever for mining companies to operate in a conservation forest," said Koes.

Koes added that the company had previously been rejected by Palu residents, who feared the exploration would affect the purity of water in the provincial capital of Palu.