Govt to put in order coal mine concessions in Kalimantan

The government will put in order thousands of coal mine concession areas in Kalimantan as many of them overlap with other mining areas or occupy protected forests, Kompas reported Saturday.

Director general of minerals, coal and geothermal at the energy and mineral ministry, Bambang Setiawan said in Jakarta Friday that many coal mining permits in Kalimantan were issued without proper procedures.

He said that the number of the coal mining permits has significantly increased from only 2,000 to 8,400 since the issuance of the autonomy law a decade ago under which the local governments are allowed to issue mining permits to domestic investors.

Many permits are however issued without proper procedures. As the result, many coal mine concession areas overlap with other mine areas or protected forests. Many concession owners also violate regulations such as not conducting exploration activities within the given time, or carry out mining activities without mandatory environmental impact analysis (Amdal) permits from the ministry for environmental affairs.

Bambang said that his office in cooperation with the local governments in charge of mining activities would begin the disciplinary measures as soon as the implementation regulations of the 2009 mining law are issued, hopefully in the first quarter of this year.

All concession owners who violate the regulations would receive a harsh penalty, or lose their mine permits, he said. (*)