Govt to announce names of licensed coal producers
Thursday, September 5 2002 - 03:53 AM WIB
The ministry?s inspectorate general, Endro Utomo Notodisuryo said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the names of the licensed coal producers would be disseminated to coal buyers especially corporate customers such as PT Indonesia Power and cement producers.
Endro said that the existing coal buyers should procure their coal needs from the list of the licensed producers. If they have bought from companies not included in the list, they have to revoke the contracts in order to give pressure to illegal coal producers, he added.
"Based in our data, illegal coal producers in South Kalimantan alone produce about 6.5 million tons a year," he added.
Meanwhile Endro told Republika that Indonesia had yet to issue clear criteria to differentiate between legal and illegal coal producers. At present the government only banned the purchase of coal from illegal producers but could not clearly indicate which of the coal available in the market is legal or illegal.
He acknowledged that the government found it difficult to curb illegal coal production because many illegal miners marketed their coal products through licensed companies. "In many cases, illegal miners sold their products through registered coal producers whose concessions areas had yet to start production activities," he said. (*)