Antang Agung asked to speed up coal production

Members of the Legislative Council of the Hulu Sungai Selatan regency in West Kalimantan has asked local coal producer PT Antang Guning Meratus to speed up the exploration of its coal mining in the regency, Banjarmasin Pos reported on Thursday.

The legislators said they had given a full support to the mining company and hoped the coal production activities could be sped up so that the regency would receive large royalties to finance its budget.

"If our financial resources are not adequate enough, the regency could be merged with others," the chairman of the council Rusmansyah said. "That's why we need an additional income to maintain our status," he added.

PT AGM, which controls about 22,000 hectares of coal concessions in the province, produces about 4,500 tons of coal last year, much lower than the initial target of 500,000 tons.

The company's Site Manager Yulnan said that his company was facing difficulties in speeding up its coal production in its ocncession area, which covers several regencies in the province including Hulu Sungai Selatan, Hulu Sungai Tengah, Banjar and Tapin.

"We are now focusing our exploration in Banjar and could not do the same with the mining site in Hulu Sungai Selatan at the same time," he said. (*)