Miners told to build roads

Miners told to build roads

JAKARTA (JP): South Kalimantan legislators have called on the
local government to maintain a ruling which bans coal producers
from using public roads to transport coal.

"The ban is needed to protect the public roads from serious
damage," the head of the local legislative council, Mansyah Add,
said at the provincial capital of Banjarmasin on Friday.

Since the regional government applied the ruling on January
1, more than 400,000 tons of coal worth some Rp 40 billion
(US$5.4 million) could not be transported to local ports for
export, according to news agency Antara.

The provincial administration issued the ruling following
complaints from locals saying that coal trucks dominated public
roads, bullied other motorists and caused air pollution. The
mining companies are required to build their own roads to
transport their coal.

So far, PT Adaro Indonesia and PT Hasnur have their own coal
transportation roads, whereas public roads are often used by
illegal mining companies. (bkm)