German body asks govt to take care small mine firms

Deutch Stiftung Fur Internationale Entiwiclung (DSE) or The German Foundation for International Development has asked the government to pay a serious attention on the operation of small and medium firm companies in a bid to bur illegal mining activities, Jawa Pos reported on Saturday.

Cristian Schlag, a senior executive of the agency, said that the small and medium-size companies should not be ignored because they have the potency to spur economic growth in provinces.

"They should be better organized so that they will be able to operate with a proper mining standards," he told reporters following a discussion with the executives of the Surabaya Stock Exchange (SSX) on Thursday.

According to the existing regulations, major scale mineral resources are under the authority of the central government while those categorized as the C Class mineral resources such as sand, ceramics, grovel, granite and limestone are under the control of local governments.

The German institution also called for the need of coordination from the government and financial institutions to support such mining activities. "Without such financial help, it will be certainly difficult for them to grow," Schlag said. (*)