Sand quarrying goes on despite ban

BOGOR (JP): Sand quarriers in the village of Pasir Buncir, Caringin district, Bogor regency, are continuing with their illegal operations despite an official ban by the Bogor mining office.

The head of the office, Rahmat Gandana, said on Tuesday that his office had closed the sand quarry in the village as the site was protected to conserve water reabsorption.

Claiming to have no knowledge of the unlicensed removal of sand, he admitted that the potential for sand quarrying in the area was great.

According to Rahmat, the regency had 41 Category C (sand and gravel) quarries, but 31 of them had been closed leaving only ten operational.

Sources in the Bogor administration said illegal quarrying was a complex issue because it involved social, economic and environmental aspects.

They added, however, that a multifaceted control program involving all the relevant parties had been launched and had resulted in the closure of 1,710 quarries sites in Gunung Pongkor, with around 6,000 miners being affected.

Currently only 100 people are engaged in a small-scale mining operation in Gunung Pongkor, where state-owned mining firm PT Aneka Tambang is mining gold. (21)