Regent demands coal cooperatives pay royalty

The Hulu Sungai Tengah Regent Saiful Rasyid demanded the Suryanata cooperatives operating in the local district area to pay coal mining royalty to the administration.

Saiful was quoted by the local Banjarmasin Post daily as saying that the royalty was needed to help finance the maintenance of roads used by coal trucks.

He also demanded the cooperatives to implement a promised land reclamation program.

The Hulu Sungai Tengah administration has just extended the coal mining license of the Suryanata cooperatives.

The cooperatives had been operating in the Haruyan district for five years, and the regency administration extended the mining license for another year.

Coal mining companies normally pay the coal royalty to the central government in Jakarta, which would later redistribute it to respective coal producing regions. But in the case of people?s mining activity, the coal royalty is paid to the particular region. The coal mining activity of the Suryanata cooperatives is considered as the people?s mining activity.

Regions have often complained about the slow disbursement of the coal royalty from the finance ministry in Jakarta.(*)