Government hires US expert as WB urges mining draft revision
Saturday, April 28 2001 - 04:30 AM WIB
The government said yesterday it would hire an international mining expert as the World Bank has demanded a major revision to Indonesia's mining drafts.
"We will involve a professor from the Colorado School of Mines in the United States to speed up the revision of the draft on mining, since the World Bank has expressed concern over the revision," Suryantoro, an expert staff from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, told reporters in Jakarta .
The incumbent Energy and Mineral Resources minister, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, is a graduate of the same university.
The new mining regulations are in line with the country's regional autonomy and fiscal decentralization drive which kicked off in January 2001, under which local administrations are given more control over wealth and natural resources in their respective regions.
"The World Bank expects that the new [revised] mining rule will be able to attract more foreign investors to Indonesia," Suryantoro said.
Indonesia's major donors have also warned Jakarta of the negative impact of the regional autonomy on foreign investment into the country.
Suryantoro said that the involvement of a foreign expert in the process will help the government draw up regulations that are expected to be effective in the long-term, up to a 30-year period.
"This consultant is needed to give us the necessary input, because mining commodities are closely related to decentralization and investment climate," he said.
The government expects that the draft can be deliberated by Parliament late this year.
"We hope that this draft can be submitted to the House of Representatives at the end of the year," he said.
In a related development, sources told Antara that the World Bank is concerned about the delegation of authority in the general mining from the central to regional administrations, which include licensing, monitoring and controlling.
"They [World Bank] are of the opinion that there is a lack of preparation among the regional governments, something that cannot be improved in the short term, that will undermine foreign investor interests in the sector," a source said. (*)