Govt won?t approve Aceh mining bylaw

The central government will most likely overrule a mining bylaw issued by the Aceh administration in December to control mineral and coal businesses in the resource-rich province, The Jakarta Post reported on Thursday.

Such action will be taken because the by law, locally known as qanun, does not conform with existing national regulations.

R. Sukhyar the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry?s director general for mineral and coal, said articles in the mining qanun contravene the national mining regulations. ?Our recommendation will be not to endorse the qanun. If applied, the qanun would burden mining companies and could create chaos,? Sukhyar said on Wednesday.

The Aceh Legislative Council last December passed a bylaw partly to extract money from mining operations in the province. Under the qanun, mining companies are required to pay between 2.2 and 6.6 percent of their products selling price in ?natural resources compensation? to the Aceh administration.

Under existing regulation, all bylaws, including qanun, must conform with the law and must have approval from the central government before they become effective. The government has to make a decision within 60 days after receiving the bylaw for review.

The Aceh administration?s law division head, Edrian, said on Tuesday that his office had submitted the qanun to the home minister on Feb. 2 for review. However, the ministry has yet to respond.

The ministry will need a recommendation from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry before it decides whether the newly-issued qanun can become effective, Sukhyar said. As of Wednesday, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has not received a request from the Home Ministry.

Miners, already suffering from the current drop in commodity prices, have protested the qanun given the amount of extra royalties they have to pay. (*)