KEM forms mine closure department

East Kalimantan gold giant mining company PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM) has formed a special mine closure department to handle the various problems that might arise when the company end its operation in 2004.

KEM president John Vale was quoted as saying by the local Kaltim Post daily that the new department was ready to cooperate with related government institutions or non-governmental body to handle the post-mining period of the Kelian area.

Responding to calls from East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna AF that KEM must anticipate the possible massive illegal mining activity in the Kelian area once the company end its operation, Vale said that the company could not work alone but need the support of related institutions.

"(The illegal mining problem) is impossible to be handled solely by KEM," Vale said.

With regards to the development of the economy of the local people in the post-mining period, KEM said that it would also cooperate with the World Bank and its partners.

"We will cooperate with the World Bank and its partners to develop this area to become a tourist object or office area," he said. (*)