S. Kalimantan official acknowledges lack of actions to tackle illegal mining

The head of the South Kalimantan provincial mining office, Tata Suhendis, has acknowledged that his office lacked of actions in the field to tackle the rampant illegal mining practices in the province.

"We have not conducted enough actions to penalize illegal miners, and therefore, illegal mining activities are still rampant," Tata, accompanied by his deputy Priyo Pranoto, told a hearing with the provincial legislative council's commission D on Wednesday (March 21).

The hearing turned heated with councilors launching barracks of questions to both Tata and Priyo.

Commission's secretary Sofwat Hadi, for instance, questioned Tata and Priyo the statistical figure on illegal miners. He asked how many illegal miners were in South Kalimantan, and who were behind them.

Sofyat also asked them whether the mining office licensed the transporting of illegal coals from illegal mining sites to the port for further transportation to buyers' destinations.

But Tata said that his office did not have statistical figures on illegal mining activities. He referred to the coal control team.

Tata's answer sparked questions from councilor Akhmad Syah, who questioned the work of the team which he considered was ineffective. He also asked how much money the team had spent for its operation.

Priyo explained that the team spent Rp 1.3 billion (US$=10,500) in 1999 and around Rp 1.8 billion to Rp 2 billion last year. And this figure struck the councilors even harder.

The hearing was suspended for five minutes when Tata and Priyo could not answer a councilor's question on the legality of the recent Rp 15,000 levy imposed on illegal coal dead-stock by the provincial administration.

When the hearing resumed, Tata explained that his office was not in the position to answer the question on the legality of the levy, arguing it was the authority of the provincial administration. (*)