Planned forest rules should avoid legal uncertainty for miners
Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta
The Indonesian Mining Association said a plan of the Ministry of Forestry to issue tougher new regulations for mining firms to operate in protected forests must not overlap with existing regulations to avoid further legal uncertainty for investors.
"The Ministry of Forestry should look into existing regulations to see whether they need to be revised or they need completely new regulations," P.L. Coutrier, the association's executive director told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
"The bottom line is it should not be in conflict with the existing ones," he said.
Coutrier made the comments regarding the Ministry of Forestry's plans to lay down stringent requirements for mining firms to operate in protected forests.
One of the requirements is that mining firms must deposit funds with the government that will be used to finance the rehabilitation of their mining site after their concession expires.
The deposit is intended to prevent mining firms from evading responsibility to rehabilitate mining sites.
Another condition is that mining firms should provide a plot of land larger than their concession to be developed into natural forest if they operate in a province where natural forest accounts for less than 30 percent of the region's total land.
The Ministry of Forestry plans to introduce the new regulations following the endorsement of a government regulation in lieu of law that allows mining in the country's protected forests.
Some 13 mining companies will resume operations with the endorsement of the regulation.
As investors laud the move, environmentalists lambasted the decision saying it would further destroy the country's vanishing woodlands.
Coutrier said the Ministry of Forestry should first consult the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources because there are existing regulations which oblige mining firms to rectify environmental damage caused by their operations.
For example, based on Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Decree No. 1211.K/008/M.PE/1995, mining firms must deposit a certain amount of funds for the rehabilitation of mining sites.
The decree also regulates requirements to reduce damage to the environment caused by mining activities including post-mining closure.
"The existing regulations are adequate to prevent mining firms from evading responsibility," Coutrier said.
Sutisna Prawira, the head of the legal division at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said his office had not received the draft of the planned regulations.
"We are aware of the plan but the Ministry of Forestry has yet to submit the drafts to us," Sutisna told the Post.
Sutisna said the Ministry of Forestry should involve his office in drafting the regulations to produce suitable regulations that cater to the needs of the mining sector.
"The Ministry of Forestry should discuss the planned regulations with us. Otherwise, its implementation could cause problems," Sutisna said.