Kalimantan’s North Barito regency to revise mine licensing procedure

The local government in North Barito regency, in South Kalimantan, will revise the licensing procedures for the operation of coal mines there in a bid to speed up the development of new mining sites in the regency, Investor Daily reported on Thursday.

Asran, the head of the mining office in the regency, said on Wednesday that under the new regulation, investors would be given only a year to begin their mining operations.

At present, investors have three years to carry out survey and other preparations before beginning their mining activities. But many investors abuse the procedure and use the three-year period to find investors willing to acquire their concession areas instead of carrying out survey and other mining preparations.

“As a result, many of the mining areas remain idle and inactive,” he added.(*)