Police start questioning illegal miners at Arutmin's area
Saturday, January 6 2001 - 05:00 AM WIB
The police of Tanah Laut (Tala) regency in South Kalimantan said they had started questioning miners, who have been illegally mining the contract area of coal mining company PT Arutmin to follow up the complaints filed by the company.
Tala police chief Tjetjep A Supriyatna said the police would first question a businessmen identified by the initial HA on charges of illegally doing mining activities in the company's contract area.
"We have followed up the complaints filed by the company by questioning the businessman. The questioning temporarily stopped due to the recent long holidays. But, we'll soon continue the questioning," Tjetjep was quoted as saying by local daily Banjarmasin Post.
Tjejep said the police would also question other illegal miners named by Arutmin in its complaints.
Arutmin is the subsidiary of Australian conglomerate BHP Pty Ltd.
Illegal miners have reportedly controlled 3,000 hectares of Arutmin's 6,721 hectare-contract area in the Kintap-Satui district.
The illegal miners concentrate in the Hanoman Block 88 pit in Kintap, where, according to the data at the South Kalimantan energy and mineral resources office, 10 illegal miners operate. The office has the complete list of the names of the illegal miners, the paper said.
The presence of the illegal miners have been reported to the anti-illegal miners team formed by the provincial and regency administrations, but they allegedly paid no serious attention to the case.
Arutmin thus reported the case to the police, the paper said.
Tjetjep promised to pursue a legal process against the illegal miners but he proposed Arutmin solve the problem by recruiting the illegal miners to mine its contract area, citing the measure taken by mining company PT Jorong Barutama Greston.
Illegal mining activities have been long a problem for the province and the regency that thus far the province and regency have failed to reach a solution to the problem.
Arutmin deeply regrets the fact, saying the case indicates there is no security guarantee for investment in the areas.
"There is no use for the local administrations to invite investors, if they are unable to protect the existing investors," quipped head of Arutmin's Pelaihari branch office Y Radirusmansyah. (*)