Govt to raise forest use tariffs for mining starting next year

By Hiski Darmayana

The government will raise the tariffs payable to the government by mining firms for using forest areas starting next year.

As part of the plan to raise the tariffs, which is known in the industry by the acronym IPPKH, the government is revising the Governmental Regulation No. 2/2008 on Types and Tariffs of Government Non-Tax Revenue from Forestry Area for Development Interest Outside of Forestry Activities (PP No. 2/2008).

The new tariffs will be stipulated in the revised regulation. An interdepartmental team tasked to revise the PP No.2/2008 is now in the final phase of their work.

?The draft of the revised regulation has been submitted to the Secretary of State (for a review). It is thus almost finished. It (the new regulation) will be effective starting next year,? Sylvana Ratina, Head of Government Non Tax Revenue (PNBP) from Utilization of Forestry Areas Sub-Directorate at the Ministry of Forestry, said on Wednesday.

The new tariffs will reach Rp 4 million per hectare per year, higher by 33 percent from the current ones, she said.

The increase in the IPPKH is part of the government?s efforts to raise non-tax revenue from the forestry sector.

?Assessments by the government show the intrinsic value (of forests) that disappears thank to the use of forests for business purposes such as mining amounts to Rp 75 million per hectare per year. The new tariffs payable by mining companies are nothing compared to the loss of the forests? intrinsic value,? she said.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon