Mulyadi Urges Authorities to Crack Down on Illegal Gold Mining Financiers Damaging West Sumatra's Environment

DPR Commission I member Mulyadi has urged law enforcement agencies, supported by the TNI, to take immediate action against financiers of illegal gold mining operations using heavy machinery in West Sumatra. The call was made during a Commission I DPR working meeting with the Defence Minister, TNI Commander, and Chief of Staff of the Army (KSAD). Mulyadi stated that the environmentally damaging practice must not be tolerated. ‘The TNI must actively enforce regulations to address illegal mining that has persisted for years without resolution,’ he said in a statement on Friday, 29 May 2026. Rumours suggest two individuals with the initials N and R are major financiers behind illegal gold mining in Pasaman Barat and Pasaman regencies. Mulyadi, who is also the West Sumatra Democratic Party DPD chair, stressed the need for inter-institutional cooperation to tackle the issue, which has been ongoing for years. He called on police and TNI to thoroughly investigate all public reports. ‘West Sumatra’s natural wealth and ecological integrity must be protected from greedy hands focused solely on personal enrichment at the expense of environmental damage,’ he added. Mulyadi, representing West Sumatra’s second electoral district, emphasised that enforcement should prioritise large-scale illegal operations using heavy equipment like excavators, not small-scale traditional miners. He noted that until official People’s Mining Areas (WPR) and People’s Mining Licences (IPR) are issued, small-scale miners using simple tools should be tolerated as a means of daily subsistence. ‘Those using heavy machinery must be immediately regulated; it is unreasonable to claim that dozens or hundreds of excavators operating at a single site constitute a people’s mine,’ he said.