Many coal miners in North Barito have not applied AMDAL: Official

Most of coal mining companies operating in North Barito, Central Kalimantan have not applied the mandatory environmental impact analyses (AMDAL) in their activities, local Banjarmasin Post daily reported on Thursday.

Syahdan Sindrah, the head of the environmental agency Bapedal in North Barito said on Wednesday that his office's evaluation indicated that only two of the existing coal miners had carried out AMDAL, a crucial environmental analysis work to avoid or help minimize the negative impact of an activity to the environment.

These companies are PT Anugrah Mulya, which operates a 43,900 hectare coal mine in Teweh Tengah and Gunung Timang district a and PT Bharinto Ekatama, which operates a 22,00 hectare coal mine in Teweh Timur.

Syhdan said that AMDAL of PT Anugrah which obtained its coal mining license from the provincial authority was assessed by the local regency's Bapedal, while that of PT Bharinto which obtained its coal mining license from the ministry of energy and mineral resources was assessed by the national office of Bapedal in Jakarta. (*)