Illegal Jambi gold mining inflicts heavy losses on state
Illegal Jambi gold mining inflicts heavy losses on state
Jon Afrizal, Jambi
Indonesia has suffered hundreds of millions of rupiah in losses
due to illegal gold mining activities in several regencies in
Jambi province that have continued since 1997.
No legal action has been taken to date by the local
authorities to stop the mushrooming illegal mining, which has
also had a negative impact on the environment, especially rivers
where gold mining has taken place.
Villagers living near the riverbanks have complained of skin
irritation and other diseases after using water from the rivers
that may have been contaminated with mercury used in processing
gold.
Based on data from the Jambi mining and energy office, there
are at least five regencies where hundreds of illegal gold mining
sites are found; Sarolangun, Bungo, Tebo, Muarojambi and
Batanghari.
Each regency has between 50 to 100 gold mining sites, with a
total area of operation estimated to be more than 600 hectares.
Azwar Effendi, the geological and mineral resources department
head at Jambi's mining and energy office, acknowledged that many
illegal gold miners are operating in the province.
But they cannot be evicted as certain security officials
backed the illegal activities, he alleged.
Tebo Regental Legislative Council speaker Sugianto confirmed
that raids had been launched on the illegal mines several times,
but they were ineffective.
"The Tabo regent has warned the illegal miners to stop their
operations along the rivers," he said.
According to Sugianto, the regental administration assisted by
police had arrested several illegal miners but failed to lay
charges against them due to what the authorities said were
unclear legal procedures imposed on violators.
Azwar said illegal mining had cost the state hundreds of
millions of rupiah in losses because its operators did not pay
the annual royalty of Rp 15,000 (US$1.60) per hectare in addition
to a production tax of 3.75 percent of sales.
Each mining site is able to produce four to 40 grams of gold
per day, he added.
The gold mined from riverbed sand by villagers is of the
secondary quality. One ton of sand usually contains between 0.2
to 0.3 gram of gold.
It is not viable for large companies to invest in this kind of
gold exploration business, said Azwar.
"The local administration should therefore take the initiative
to designate certain areas for legal mining sites and train
traditional miners to improve their business," Azwar said.
Many illegal miners have been exploiting three major rivers in
Tebo regency for the past two years, including the Batangtebo
river where about 50 to 60 sites are found with at least seven
people working on each of them.
Each mining site could yield between five and 10 grams of pure
gold per day, which would then be sold to numerous gold shops in
the town of Tebo.