Planned forest rules should avoid legal uncertainty for miners
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.