NGOs challenge open-pit mining

JAKARTA: A coalition of non-governmental organizations and 81 individuals have petitioned the Constitutional Court to annul Law No. 19/2004, which allows open-pit mining by 13 companies in conservation forests.

Adi Widyanto from the Mining Advocacy Network said on Tuesday that the law would cost the country more than it would benefit from the open-pit mining.

The law was passed by the House of Representatives, which previously opposed the legislation when it was still a government regulation in lieu of law.

The NGOs are also questioning the justification put forward by the government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri when issuing the regulation in lieu of law.

The court will hear on Wednesday the arguments of 12 of the companies that have won concessions to conduct open-pit mining in the conservation forests. -- JP