Govt promises to speed up mining license process
Tuesday, May 23 2000 - 04:10 AM WIB
Director General of General Mining of the Ministry of Mines and Energy Surna T. Djajadiningrat has promised to speed up the processing of coal mining licenses in an area left by Chung Hua in Central Kalimantan to help prevent illegal mining practices.
"I will speed up the processing, but not simplify it. I remind all applicants to meet all the requirements. If the processing takes two months, it will be completed in two months so that when it reaches the desks of the governor and regents it will already be clean," Surna said in his meeting with officials of the South Kalimantan province and members of the South Kalimantan Legislative Council in Banjarmasin on Saturday (May 20).
He called for better cooperation with all parties, including the regional government and applicants -- businessmen and cooperatives. But he said he could not tolerate any attempt by businessmen to collude with him. "This is especially addressed to businessmen who have no environment impact analysis, but insist to ask for licenses for exploitation," he said.
He also promised to settle all mining problems, especially those on an area left by Chung Hua, which reportedly failed to pay royalties to the government.
He also said that in line with the government plan on regional autonomy, parts of the duties and authorities from the Ministry of Mines and Energy will be handed over to the regional government. But it will be done in stages under the thorough supervision of his institution, Surna said.
Meanwhile, South Kalimantan Governor Sjahriel Darham said that he will coordinate all related institutions in the province to formulate a partnership concept between cooperatives and businessmen in a bid to empower the community's economic activities through the cooperatives.
Head of South Kalimantan cooperatives office Ibnu Machlad said that such a partnership is badly needed to prevent the cooperatives, which lack capital and sophisticated technology, from being cheated by businessmen who frequently use their names to run the mining businesses.
After the businessmen get what they want through reckless mining practices, they just go away, leaving the cooperatives to be responsible for the payments for the royalties and for the reclamation of the exploited areas, Ibnu said. (*)