Poor roads hamper coal production in E. Kalimantan?s Malinau regency

Poor transportation systems have impeded plans to increase coal production in resource-rich Malinau regency in East Kalimantan, a local government official said as reported by local daily Kaltim Post on Thursday.

Paul Usat Libam, head of the Malinau office of energy and mining affairs, said coal miner PT Bara Dinamika Muda Sukses (BDMS) currently produced less than 500 tons of coal annually, whereas in fact it had capacity to produce much more. BDMS is the only company producing coal in Malinau, while seven other coal investors were completing their exploration work in the area.

The official said roads in Malinau were in so poor condition so that it took BDMS up to two months to transport its coal from its mining sites to the nearest port in Malinau from where the commodity was shipped to outside of the regency. The company used trucks and barges to transport coal to the port.

?We are certain about coal reserves in several places in the regency. It is our task of encouraging investors to exploit them,? Paul said, adding that Malinau had high calorie coal.

Paul added Malinau also had gold reserves, which so far had been exploited by small-scale miners only. (*)