Govt to step up supervision on mineral ore export

By Bambang Atmaja

Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Susilo Siswoutomo said that the government would boost supervision on exports of mineral ores following the issuance of ?relaxation? policy allowing miners to export more than their quota.

The statement was made following the call from Vice Chairman of Indonesian Mining Association Tony Wenas that the government should intensify the supervision to get the true value of mineral exports so that its goal to get more U.S. dollar revenue can be achieved.

?Certainly, we will carry out supervision. We will ask for reports from trade ministry, custom office and regional administrations. We will do it,? he told Petromindo.com as saying at Balai Kartini function hall in Jakarta on Wednesday.

?We will ask them all to jointly supervise (the export),? said Susilo.

Besides, he said that illegal miners have caused the country to lose about Rp 7 trillion (about $612 million) per year in potential revenue as they rarely or never pay royalties or other levies payable by any mining company.

Wenas said that the government should watch closely the export values reported by miners as it could be higher, lower than the fact.

On Aug.23, the government announced that miners may ship abroad their mineral ores more than quotas to boost export, according to Firmansyah, presidential staff of export on economy.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon