Arutmin accused of damaging South Kalimantan forests
Monday, January 30 2006 - 02:44 AM WIB
The South Kalimantan administration has accused major coal producer Arutmin Indonesia of causing a serious damage to the province?s forests, Suara Karya reported Monday.
The head of the province?s forestry office, Sonny Pratono, said that Arutmin which produces about 16 million tons of coal a year, has operated open-coal mines for years in the province?s forest areas without any permit from the ministry of forestry.
According to the regulation, a mining company should receive a permit to open an open coal mine within the forest areas. ?But the company has not received such a license until now,? he added.
Arutmin?s spokesman Sony Pangestu admitted that the company had not yet received a license from the ministry of forestry but added that the contract of works awarded to the company has allowed the company to carry mining activities in its all concession areas.
He said because most parts of the company?s 70,000-hectare concession area comprised of forest areas, the opening of forest areas in its coal mining concession could therefore be difficult to avoid. ?But all the mining activities have been made according to Amdal, a mining analyst system which has been carefully designed to avoid any damages to the environment,? he added. (*)