Law on mining challenged

JAKARTA: As many as 90 non governmental organizations (NGOs) and 80 individuals have challenged Law No. 19/2004, which strengthens a government regulation in lieu of law approving open pit mining in protected forests.

Dede Nurdin Sadat, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said that the law unconstitutional because its clearly states that the law was enacted to support the interests of investors, rather than the Indonesian people.

He told the Constitutional Court on Wednesday that the Constitution guarantees human rights, including the rights of people to live in a preserved environment, while mining operations are always associated with environmental destruction.

The government regulation in lieu of law, which was issued earlier last year, allows 13 mining firms to resume operations in protected forests.

The firms were part of a large group of mining companies forced to suspend operations following the enactment of a new forestry law in 1999 that banned open-pit mining in protected areas. -- JP