Mining permits in protected forests will be reviewed

The government has formed an inter-ministry team to review the fate of mining concessions, which are located in protected forest areas, Secretary General of the Forestry Ministry Wahyu Wardoyo has said.

?The team will assess the feasibility of the mining concessions, which cover protected forest areas,? he was quoted as saying by Bisnis Indonesia daily on Wednesday. ?But in principle, the forestry ministry opposes any open-mining activities in forest conservation areas?, he added.

According to him, the regulation on the banning of open-mining activities are clearly stipulated in the Forestry Law 1999. This law should be maintained for long-term purpose, that is to ensure sustainable forest development.

The controversy related to the fate over the mining projects located in protected forests came into the spot light after the president of the state-owned general mining company PT Aneka Tambang, Aditya Sumanegara said last week that mining projects worth over US$3 billion in eastern Indonesia had to be postponed due to uncertainty related to their permits.

The projects received permits before the issuance of the law. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resource defend that the mining projects although the new law prohibits all activities related to open-mining activities in such protected forest areas.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said such mining concessions should be exempted because they were issued before the implementation of the law. (*)