16,000 ha of Berau Coal?s mining area revoked

About 16,000 hectares of PT Berau Coal?s mining area in East Kalimantan has been unilaterally revoked by the province?s forestry office, Bisnis Indonesia daily reported on Tuesday.

The company?s manager for government relations, E. Koswara said in Jakarta on Monday that the 16,000 ha areas would be converted into forest conservation areas but the decision to convert the mining area into protected forests was made without the involvement of the company?s management.

"The 16,000 ha land is part of productive forests, not protected forest," he said. According to him, PT Berau obtained a contract of works in 1983 to explore and develop about 420,000 hectares of mining area in the province.

After a comprehensive survey, the company decided only to develop 121,000 hectares of the permitted mining area, and returned the other to the government because they did not contain significant coal deposits.

Kowara said that the company had formally filed a complaint to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, but no response had been made. "With the revocation of the rights to develop the 16,000 hectares of its mining area, PT Berau would no longer expand its activities," he added. (*)