Purnomo asks govt to shift position of protected forests

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Friday he had formally requested the government to change the position of protected forests so as to allow investors to resume their operations in the areas.

Purnomo said he had submitted his request in a cabinet meeting one month ago.

He argued that three articles of Forestry Law No. 41/1999 allowed minister of forestry to change the position of protected forest areas. The law bans open-pit mining in protected forest areas.

?The law allows minister of forestry to shift the position of forests,? Purnomo told reporters.

Purnomo said that long-running controversies over the status of protected forests could trouble investment climate in the country?s mining sector.

Implementation of Law No. 41/1999 affects some 150 mining projects, most of which are located in the eastern part of Indonesia. Mining companies complained that they had invested a lot of money in their projects and that their contracts with the government had been signed before the issuance of the law.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Forestry were reported to have agreed in principle to allow six mining firms to resume their operations in forest areas.

The six companies were PT Weda Bay Nikel and PT Nusa Halmahera (both located in Maluku province), PT Gag Nikel (Papua), PT Galuh Cempaka (South Kalimantan), PT Jorong Barutama (Papua) and PT Barisan Tropical Mining (South Sumatra).

They were some of the 22 mining companies proposed by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to be allowed to resume their operations. (godang)