Five coal companies fail to pay royalties

Five coal companies operating in South Kalimantan have failed to pay royalties amounting to US$33.5 million to the government, South Kalimantan-based newspaper Banjarmasin Post reported on Tuesday.

The companies are PT Arutmin, which has yet to pay a total of $26 million in royalty to the government, PT Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku ($6 million), Antang Gunung Meratus ($1 million), Sumber Kurnia Buana ($547,000 plus Rp 26 million), PD Baramarta (Rp 6 billion), head of the province?s mining office H. Sukardhi told reporters on Monday in the province?s capital of Banjarmasin.

Arutmin is the subsidiary of national coal giant PT Bumi Resources, while Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku is the subsidiary of Australia?s Straits Resources Ltd.

South Kalimantan?s governor Rudy Ariffin has asked the mining office to take tough action against the five firms. If necessary, the office could stop the operations of the five firms.

The firms have promised to pay the royalties by June this year. If they failed to fulfill their promise by the deadline, Sukardhi said his office would propose to the central government to suspend any public service to the firms.

?We shall also stop giving them public services on a temporary basis,? Sukardhi said. (*)