IMA: Paying reclamation funds in advance is irrational
Tuesday, July 20 2004 - 03:08 AM WIB
The Indonesia Mining Association (IMA) has said that the proposal to require 13 mining companies, which have been recently allowed to resume their operations in protected forests, to pay their reclamation funds in advance is irrational.
"It is impossible for the companies to pay their reclamation projects in advance while most of them have not yet started production," the association's executive director Louis Coutrier said.
He agreed that more concerted efforts were needed in handling former mining areas such as through well planned reclamation programs. "But is impossible, if they are requested to pay such a large amount of funds in advance," he said.
A non-governmental organization, Greenomic Indonesia, has called on the 13 mining companies to pay their reclamation projects in advance
Speaking to reporters over the weekend, the organization's executive director, Elfian Effendi, said that paying the reclamation projects in advance would ensure that none of the companies would break their contracts.
According to him, the reclamation funds that have to be paid by the companies, which control about 925,000 hectares, could reach US$15.7 billion or equivalent to about Rp141.5 trillion. The amount is based on the assumption that each company will need at least US$17,000 per hectare to finance their reclamation projects.(*)