HSS govt suspends Antang Gunung Meratus' coal contractor

The Hulu Sungai Selatan (HSS) regency administration in South Kalimantan has stopped the operation of coal contractor PT Batu Gunung Mulia (BGM) since June 9 due to dispute over royalty, the local Banjarmasin Post daily reported on Tuesday.

BGM is one of the contractors operating in the concession area of coal mining firm PT Antang Gunung Meratus (AGM).

HSS Regent M. Sapi'i accussed AGM cheating in paying royalty to the local administration, which has suffered hundreds of million rupiah in losses as a result.

He said that the administration would discuss the matter with the company and related to parties to make necessary adjustment and recalculation.

The government will also improve the monitoring system to avoid such incident from reoccuring the future and ensure optimum revenue for the local government.

"To make the recalculation, the local administration has been forced to close down the company (BGM) for the time being until the recalculation process and the improvement of the monitoring system have been completed," Sapi'i said.(*)