Govt to finalize special coal port plan in November

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) and the Ministry of Transportation (MoT) are expected to finalize the planned special coal ports in the country next month, Investor Daily reported on Thursday.

The paper quoted Director General of Mineral and coal at the MEMR R. Sukhyar as saying that his office had already discussed the planned special coal ports with coal industry players, the results of which to be discussed with the MoT. ?We hope to be able to issue a joint decree in November,? he said.

The planned special coal ports are expected to help curb illegal shipment of coal overseas. According to the plan, future overseas coal shipment will only be allowed to be made via the special coal ports.

According to Sukhyar, there are currently around 170 coal ports ranging from small to large scale, making monitoring difficult to do. About 30-40 million tons of coal is estimated to be illegally exported every year.

Sukhyar said that the number of special coal ports will be larger than the initial plan of 14.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the directorate, Paul Lubis said that the ministry would also utilize information technology to better monitor coal production and shipment in a bid to help curb illegal export. (*)