Govt team to revise general mining bill

An inter-ministerial team preparing the general mining bill will retract the draft law it has submitted to the President for approval on grounds that it contains stipulations on geothermal resources and water resources, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro told Petromindo.Com Wednesday.

?Stipulations on geothermal resources and water resources have to be taken out of the bill. They will be regulated by special laws,? Purnomo said.

The parliament (DPR) last September passed into law the geothermal resources bill submitted by the government. Meanwhile, the government is completing the water resources bill.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri had planned to submit the general mining bill to DPR early this year.

Meanwhile, Geology and Mineral Resources Director General Simon F. Sembiring said DPR was unlikely to be able to deliberate the bill next year, as lawmakers would be busy with the 2004 general elections.

The current Mining Law of 1967 is considered ineffective because many of its clauses are in conflict with the 1999 Autonomy Law. Meanwhile, the mining bill to be submitted to the parliament tries to strike a new balance between the interest of mining investors and the nation's. (godang)