Bangka-Belitung govt rejects moratorium on tin mining activities

The provincial administration of Bangka-Belitung has rejected a proposal to impose a moratorium on new applications to open tin mines despite the worsening of the environmental condition in the province, Kompas reported Friday.

Bangka-Belitung governor Eko Maulana Ali said in Pangkal Pinang on Wednesday that the local people were not yet ready to impose a moratorium on mining activities especially tin mining.

According to him, Bangka-Belitung, the largest tin producer in the country, still relies heavily on tin mining activities to support the province?s economy. The imposition of a mining operation could therefore result in a serious economic problem, he said, adding that halting tin mining activities will cause a serious employment problem because most of the people in the province earn their living from tin mining activities.

Minister Zulkifli Hasan proposed recently a moratorium on mining activities in order to help halt the degradation of the environment caused by tin mining activities. He said that the size of the forests which cover the land in the province had declined sharply to only about 8 percent due to expansion of mining activities.

He therefore called on the provincial administration to impose a mining moratorium as well to carry out reforestation program in order to put back the forestry area to at least 30 percent of the total area in the province. (*)