All stakeholders will be involved in preparation of mining law

The government will involve all stakeholders in the preparation of a new mining law to minimize controversies that might raise from the issuance of the law, Suara Karya reported on Thursday.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the involvement of stakeholders particularly investors and the public was necessary to ensure that the new mining law would not cause controversies.

For this purpose, the minister said, he had asked the director general of geology to hold a workshop to publicly discuss the draft of the new law. "All stakeholders should be invited so that they will have the chance to express their aspiration," he added.

The government is currently drafting a new mining law to replace the outdated mining law No 67/1999.

Director General of Geology and Mineral Resources Simon F. Sembiring said earlier that the drafting of the law, which had been included in the first 100-day program of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had entered its final stage.

"There are certain issues that still hurdle the drafting process such as those related to the status of a foreign company, environmental issues and the power of the local governments," he said. However, despite such problem, most of the content of the proposed law have accommodated the aspiration of the investors, he said. (*)