Businesses take legal action to challenge export ban policy

Businesses engaged or related to the mineral mining industry have filed a judicial review with the Constitutional Court over the implementation of the 2009 Mining Law as they challenge the government?s new export ban on mineral ores, Kontan daily reported on Friday.

The paper said that among of those filing the judicial review include the Indonesian Mineral Entrepreneurs Association (Apemindo), PT Harapan Utama Andalan, PT Pelayaran Eka Ivanajasa, TKBM Kendawangan Mandiri cooperatives, and PT Pundi Bhakti Khatulistiwa.

Lawyer Refly Harun, who represents the aforementioned companies, said that the export ban policy on mineral ores is in contradiction with the country?s 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that resources must be utilized for the maximum benefit of the people.

Ladjiman Damanik of Apemindo said that the association filed judicial review particularly on Chapter 102 and 103 of the 2009 Mining Law which contradicts with Government Regulation No 1/2014. Ladjiman said that the government has misinterpreted the two chapters in the law by banning the export of mineral ores. He argued that the law actually does not stipulate on export ban of mineral ores, but merely export limit so that miners which are not yet ready to build smelters would not be badly affected.

The government on January 12 begin implementing the long-planned export ban on mineral ores as mandated by the 2009 Mining Law, but gives a grace period for certain mineral products in the form of concentrates including copper, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, and ilmenite until 2017.

Meanwhile, nickel and bauxite miners are not given a reprieve, thus banning the export of the ores, forcing the miners to process them first at domestic smelters, hitting hard on those who don?t have smelters amid lack of domestic capacity. (*)