Coal miners hails new regulation on forest use
Tuesday, August 7 2012 - 02:22 AM WIB
Indonesia Coal Mining Association (ICMA) warmly hailed newly-issued government regulation on the use of forest area which will give legal certainty for miners in carrying out mining operations in forest areas.
The association?s chairman Supriatna Suhala said that the regulation indicated that the government had become aware that mining operation was not identical with forest degradation.
?The forest area can be rehabilitated after the completion of mining operations. In many cases, rehabilitated forests can be better than the original forests,? he said.
Mining companies can now obtain a forest-lease permit to operate in forest areas following the issuance of the government regulation No. 61, 2012.
The government regulation which contains some revisions of the government regulation No 24, 2010 was signed by President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono in July 2012. Under the new regulation, companies which have already operated in forest areas can obtain a forest lease permit.
In order to be able to get forest-lease permit, miners should have a mining permit issued by the local government based on the provincial and regency-level spatial planning made before the issuance of the Law No. 26/2007 on spatial planning.
Editing by Adianto P. Simamora