Mining concession comes under fire
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) attacked the government Saturday for allowing a coal mining firm to control 100,000 hectares of a Kalimantan national park.
ICEL executive director Mas Achmad Santosa charged that the government had, once again, violated the laws it made to protect forests and the natural riches therein.
Santosa said the 1989 decree jointly issued by the minister of mines and energy and the minister of forestry strictly banned commercial mining activities in protected forests.
"The exceptions are non-commercial activities, such as geological surveys conducted in efforts to learn more about potential natural disasters in a particular forested area," he told The Jakarta Post.
The permit for PT Dwipangga Sakti Prima to exploit 100,000 hectares of the 200,000 hectare Kutai National Park in East Kalimantan has reportedly been issued by the mines and energy ministry.
The park is one of the world's few remaining tropical rain forests, often dubbed the "lungs of the world." Since it was proclaimed a national park in 1982, the park has lost about 50,000 hectares, mainly due to human encroachment.
The controversial plan has also met strong objections from local environmentalists and UNESCO, which uses the protected forest for research activities.
Santosa said under 1985 Law No. 5 on forest protection, PT Dwipangga Sakti Prima's manager was liable to a 10-year imprisonment term. The public officials that issued the permit are liable to legal action through the State Administrative Court by individuals or legal bodies affected by the policy.
He said the Kutai Park affair was not the first in which the government breached rules on protected forests.
In another instance, he said, a permit for a mining activity was issued by the wrong ministry without approval from the office of the state ministry for environment and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences as required by law.
"The case in point is the permit issued for a mining company to exploit minerals in the Lorentz protected forest, Irian Jaya," he said, adding the permit was issued by the mines and energy minister.
ICEL called on the government to improve compliance with the laws on mining activities.
Indonesia has three laws concerning mining in protected areas. First, the Government Decree No. 28 of 1985 on protection of forests. Second, the joint Ministerial Decrees of the mines and energy minister and minister of forestry issued in 1989 on Mining activities in forested areas. Third, the 1991 Joint Ministerial Decree issued by the same ministries on application procedures for mining permits. (pan)