Why Prabowo Is Right to Crack Down on Tin Mining’s ‘Depraved’ Practices
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Former Indonesian finance minister Fuad Bawazier, who held office in 1998, said President Prabowo Subianto’s policy of bringing order to the country’s tin-mining sector was driven by past poor governance and widespread criminal activity. Reform of the commodity sector was urgent, he said, because Indonesia’s tin-management system had previously been in a “depraved” or extremely dire state.
Fuad highlighted how badly the national tin industry had been run before it was brought under control during Prabowo’s administration. He said the authorities’ tolerance of illegal mining and overseas smuggling had gone too far.
“Our country — particularly when it comes to tin; I’m focusing on tin and not broadening this to other areas — was depraved. The country was depraved on tin. That’s why it had to be brought under control,” Fuad said on CNBC Indonesia’s Cuap Cuap Cuan podcast, as quoted on Wednesday (21 October 2026).
Fuad said that before the crackdown, overseas markets freely took in and benefited from tin smuggled out of Indonesia. Foreign buyers, he argued, knew full well that the tin they received had been smuggled.
“Other countries accept stolen goods too; they know it is stolen from Indonesia. Who says they don’t know? They uphold the law in their own countries, but when smuggled goods come in… in they go, in they go, in they go! That’s how it goes — expose them,” he said.
He said poor governance was also evident in the role of the domestic state-owned tin company, which, on its own land, acted merely as a weigh station and recipient for the output of other miners.
Fuad said the direct intervention by President Prabowo had stopped supply leaks and left overseas industries starting to lose access to illegally sourced tin.
“This is the Prabowo administration bringing things under control — it was Mr Prabowo. First, companies overseas seem to be getting short of raw materials; the stolen goods are running out,” he added.
The tough enforcement measures were said to have significantly improved the performance of the national tin industry. Closing illegal channels boosted sales and profits by as much as ninefold, while the value of the company’s assets rose sharply.
“After things were brought under control, the results were extraordinary. Do people think it was easy to do? So, thank God. The value of its assets and its market capitalisation have risen; sales have risen — everything may be up by nine or ten times,” he said.
Prabowo cracks down on illegal tin mining
President Prabowo Subianto previously said the campaign against illegal mining, particularly tin mining, had begun to produce results.
According to his figures, PT Timah Tbk (TINS) recorded a significant improvement in its financial performance, with profit surging by 900%, or ninefold, in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.
Prabowo made the remarks during a discussion with senior journalists and experts at the Garuda Yaksa retreat in Hambalang, Bogor regency, West Java, on Sunday (6 September 2026). CNBC Indonesia broadcast the discussion on Wednesday (16 September 2026).
“For decades, tin has been smuggled out of Bangka. But with our policy, we have closed the smuggling routes and stopped hundreds of illegal mines in Bangka. PT Timah is now making a profit! You may not believe it, but its profit is nine times higher — 900%!” Prabowo said, as quoted on Thursday (17 September 2026).
He said PT Timah’s recovery reflected firm law enforcement and the closure of channels through which national wealth had been lost for decades. The governance reforms, he said, had directly restored the state-owned company’s potential revenue.
“That’s right? Because we enforce the rules. How many decades has this been going on?” he added.
Prabowo said PT Timah’s financial recovery showed that better governance and clean leadership could turn a state-owned enterprise from loss-making to profitable in a short time.
He stressed that government officials and state-owned company directors were committed to ending all forms of misuse or theft of state assets.
“Why? Because the directors and all of us don’t want ‘pat-guli-pat’; we don’t want to steal from the state! That’s the point. Even this is beyond my expectations, you know. So I’m optimistic,” Prabowo said.
Alongside the crackdown on tin mining, the government is continuing to bring thousands of other illegal mines under control and restructure state-owned enterprises to prevent financial leakages and increase dividend revenues for the state.