Govt to verify coal mining permits in South Kalimantan

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will verify mining permits issued by local authorities in South Kalimantan in a bid to curb the growing number of illegal mining activities in the province, Kompas reported on Friday.

The head of the South Kalimantan mining office, Sukardi, said in Banjarmasin on Thursday that a special team from Jakarta would cooperate with his staff to carry out the verification works.

“All the mining permits issued by regents in South Kalimantan will be checked. If the issuance of the permits did not follow the procedure, they would be revoked,” he said.

The issuance of permits by the local regency governments through their respective regents has been blamed on the mushrooming of illegal mining activities in the province. Besides being given to unqualified companies, the permits were also issued on land areas overlapping with existing mining areas.

As the consequence, many companies issued to open coal mines in the province did not follow the mining regulation in conducting their activities especially those related to environment. In addition, the permits issued on the mining areas overlapping with existing mines have also caused conflicts with existing mining companies. (*)