Ministry rejects mining permit claim

By Listiana Operananta

JAKARTA (JP): Director General of Mines Kuntoro Mangunsubroto has denied any knowledge of PT Dwipangga Sakti Prima (DSP) or its permit to exploit a vast area of the Kutai National Park in East Kalimantan.

"We have no knowledge of the company and certainly we never gave anyone a permit to explore the Kutai National Park," he told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Kuntoro was commenting on reports that the Ministry of Mines and Energy has issued a permit to the coal-mining company to exploit 100,000 hectares of the 200,000-hectare national park, which is the only protected primary rain forest in Indonesia.

The park is also home to 11 of Kalimantan's 13 primate species, half of its mammal species, and 80 percent of the island's bird species. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has warned against the planned exploitation of the park, citing environmental hazards.

"We didn't even know of the existence of PT DSP, show me the permit they claimed they had so I can read it " Kuntoro said.

Minister of Mines and Energy, I.B Sudjana was quoted by Kompas yesterday as saying that mining permits in protected forests had to be approved by the Ministry of Forestry.

The Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Preservation at the Ministry of Forestry, Sumarsono, told the Post that his office had not issued any permits to DSP to explore the mining potential of Kutai National Park.

"Besides, we can't issue any mining permits because it's against the law. But there might be a mining company trying to find out Kutai's mining potential," he said.

The Head of Kutai National Park, Warsito, however, insisted that three PT DSP employees had shown him the Ministry of Mines and Energy permit for the company to conduct research into the mining potential of the 100,000-hectare area of the park. The employees met him in Bogor early last year.

"The permit was for research only, not for exploitation," he said. However he added that such research is usually followed by exploitation, although this stage would need another permit.

Warsito reported the incident to Governor H.M. Ardans and UNESCO.

He told the Post yesterday that no research activities by private companies, much less exploitation, was permitted in protected areas. Only noncommercial research activities, such as geological studies on possible natural disasters, could be conducted in areas such as national parks.

Anxiety

The Antara news agency was the first to report the plan to exploit the national park. This report sparked anxiety among experts at UNESCO, who in turn requested an explanation from the Ministry of Forestry.

Indonesia has three laws concerning mining in protected areas. Government Decree No. 28, 1985, on the protection of forests; the 1989 mines and energy and forestry ministers' joint ministerial decrees on mining activities in forested areas; and the 1991 joint ministerial decrees, issued by the same ministers, on application procedures for mining permits.

Sumarsono strove to allay UNESCO's anxiety, saying the ministry intended to preserve the Kutai National Park. He cited a meeting with the Friends of Kutai, a project launched by UNESCO and other bodies to involve private companies surrounding the park in its preservation, in which he announced the ministry's stance.

"I have already stated that there will not be any mining activities inside the park," he said.

UNESCO has twice requested an explanation on the issuance of the permit from the Ministry of Forestry. The first was sent in January 1996 by UNESCO technical advisor Raleigh A. Blouch, followed by another in October 1996 by the organization's Indonesia director, Stephen Hill.

The Friends of Kutai National Park is currently implementing eight projects defined in its 1996 work plan. These are being financed by contributions from the private companies amounting to US$164,000 plus a further US$113,000 which was made available by the United Nations Development Program, UNESCO, and the Kutai National Park Management Project.

The project deals with the establishment of buffer zones, stabilizing park boundaries, obtaining satellite imaginary of the park and training and equipping park staff.