Govt to propose revision of mining law

The government will soon submit a proposal to the House of Representatives (DPR) to revise several ?ambiguous? clauses in the new mining law to ensure legal certainty for investors, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh has said.

?There will be a proposal from the government to revise the law. The proposal will be submitted to the House to revise a number of ambiguous clauses in the law,? the minister said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The minister acknowledged that several clauses in the new mining law were unclear and could provoke different interpretations. Investors? requirement to extend the mining contract to 50 years from 30 years at present would be also considered to be part of the revision, he added.

The association of Indonesian mining experts Perhapi had earlier called on the government to revise the adjustment time for mining operators which obtained their permits before the issuance of the law.

One of the clauses of the law stipulates contracts issued before the issuance of the law will be still valid until the contracts end. But in the other clause in the same law, old mine contracts should be adjusted to the new law in two years after the enforcement of the new law.

Legislator Satya W. Yudha, a member of the House's Commission VII which oversees among others mining affairs, said the government should have been active in socializing the contents of the law and stakeholders should also have been active in giving inputs regarding clauses that are impossible to be implemented.

The government could accomodate the stakeholders' wishes in government regulations. If government regulations could not accomodate the wishes, the government should then propose changes in the law.

The law was enacted in January last year and the government regulations implementing the law were issued by several months ago. (Godang)