Berau regent regrets new mining permits

Team comprising of 15 senior officials and legislators from Berau regency in East Kalimantan have met the first echelon officials at the ministry of mines and energy to express their regret over the ministry's decision to issue four new permits to develop coal mining sites in the regency.

The team, which led the local regent H. Majuni and the chairman of the local legislative council Sukri Hasan, expressed their regret at a meeting with the secretary general of the ministry Nasri Yunus Anis, Soelendro, the director for technology at the general mining department, Simon Sembiring, the director for the development and supervision of mining companies and Simon Sembiring the director in charge of coal mining.

"We are really surprised to find out that the ministry has issued four new mining permits to produce coal in Berau. We regret the move because the four companies have never talked to us about their plan," the regent said.

Majuni said that the ministry's decision to issue mining permits without a prior consultation with the local authority was certainly against the government's commitment to give the local government more power in developing its natural resource.

The ministry recently issued new permits to explore and produce coal in the regency. The recipients include PT Suwaran Jaya PT Dian Bara and PT Kurnia Sarana Lestari. (*)