Inco supports revision of forestry regulation

Indonesia's major nickel producer PT International Nickel Indonesia (Inco) supported the proposed revision of the government's regulation that allows the resumption of the operation of 13 mining companies in protected forests, Investor Daily reported on Monday.

"We agree and fully support the proposal of the association of Indonesian mining experts (PERHAPI) to revise the government's forestry regulation on the resumption of the 13 companies' operation," Rajeshanagara Suteadja, Inco's senior supervisor for government relations and public affairs said in Jakarta on Saturday

Rajesh acknowledged that Inco felt the need for the government to revise the regulation because such a regulation could hamper the operation of mining companies in protected forests.

The ministry of forestry issued a regulation early this year allowing the resumption of the 13 mining projects on the condition that the investors should first get a leasing permit to develop part of the protected forests into mining activities. The 13 mining projects had been suspended following the issuance of new forestry law in 2003, which bans open-pit mining activities in protected forests.

The leasing permit, among others, require the investors to replace the protected forest they use with the same size of productive forest near its mining location, or two times of its mining concession in other areas, if it could not find the replacement nearby.

According to PERHAPI, the points related to the requirement to replace the protected forests used by the 13 mining companies would cause a problem in resuming their mining projects. (*)