Review of mining ban in protected forests possible: Minister
Review of mining ban in protected forests possible: Minister
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is considering reviewing Law No 41/1999 on
forestry, which bans open pit mining in protected forests, to
help lure investors, particularly in the mining sector, Minister
of Forestry Muhammad Prakosa said on Tuesday.
"It's possible to review the law. We are open to discussing
it," Prakosa said at a workshop on the country's mining policy.
He said his office would first scrutinize the law before
deciding whether to revamp it or not.
At present, Prakosa said, the government preferred to
establish a special team to resolve the problems faced by mining
companies that had obtained mining licenses in protected forests
prior to the enactment of the law.
The team was established in coordination with the Ministry of
Energy and Mineral Resources and the State Ministry for
Environment, he added.
Law No. 41/1999, particularly the clause regarding the ban on
open pit mining in protected forests, has been seen as one factor
discouraging new investment in Indonesia's mining sector as some
60 percent of the country's mining resources are located in
forest areas.
According to the latest data, about 150 companies have been
banned from exploiting their mining sites as they had been
relabelled as conservation forest areas.
Prakosa said that the special team would immediately start
examining three big cases including the nickel mining operation
of PT Gag Nickel on Gag Island in Irian Jaya, and the case
involving a gold mining company PT Citra Palu Minerals in Central
Sulawesi.
Gag Nickel had obtained a license to exploit a mining site
located in the forest on Gag Island prior to the enactment of Law
No. 41/1999. But the government later redesignated the forest as
protected.
Gag Nickel is jointly owned by BHP Pty Ltd and local mining
firm PT Aneka Tambang.
Citra Palu is 90 percent owned by Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto
and the remaining 10 percent by local firm PT Arlia Karyamaska.
Paul L. Coutrier, executive director of the Indonesian Mining
Association (IMA) said that the IMA supported the plan to revise
the forestry law to provide legal certainty to investors.
Coutrier said that the IMA also welcomed the government's
decision to establish a special team to determine the best
solution for the 150 cases involving mining companies affected by
the enactment of Law No. 41/1999.
"This is good while we wait for the revision plan to go
through," he said.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Environment Nabiel Makarim said
that he would object to any plan to allow mining companies to
operate in protected forests.
"We must be strict on these cases because mining operations in
conservation forest areas will only destroy the forests," he
said.