Minister cancels transfer of authority in mining sector to provinces

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said has issued a letter dated January 25 to cancel the transfer of part of the central government?s authority in the coal and mineral sectors to provincial administrations in the 2015 budget year.

The Directorate General of Mineral and Coal at the ministry said in a statement last week that this means that associated funds for the transfer of authority in this year?s state budget has also been cancelled.

The ministry did not disclose the reason for the cancelation. The ministry initially planned to transfer part of the authority in the mining sector to the provincial administration including in the supervision, management and monitoring of IUP mining permits in the respective regions.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak