Government plans regulation to improve mining supervision

The government is drafting an implementing regulation of Law No 23/2014 on regional government that is expected to synchronize supervision of the mining sector between the central and local governments, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Friday.

The paper quoted Director for Coal and Mineral Management Program at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Sri Rahardjo as saying that the new implementing regulation would also cover the issue of mining permits.

He said that it is impossible for the central government to takeover the entire mining sector supervision considering the vast area of mining operations in the country. He added, however, there has to be technical guidelines to bolster coordination between the central and regional governments with respect to the mining sector supervision so as to avoid confusion among industry players.(*)