Small scale smelters hurts PT Timah?s image

The operation of a tin smelters in Eng Tay in the capital of Bangka island, Pangkal Pinang will seriously harm the image of the high quality tin currently produced by publicly listed PT Timah on the island.

Speaking to Neraca daily over the weekend, PT Timah?s president director Thobrani Alwi said that the tin metal produced by the Eng Tay refinery was far from meeting acceptable standards.

"Although the Eng Tay tin metal has been produced in the form of blocks, its quality is still doubted," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. He added that such tin metal would seriously hurt the image of Indonesian tin metal known for its good quality in the world market.

Besides producing tin metal of low quality, the Eng Tay smelters also caused environmental problem due to the inadequate technology they used, he said.

PT Timah, the world?s number one tin producer, controls the tin concession rights in the country, mainly in Bangka Island and surrounding areas, the only area in Indonesia which possess tin reserves.

However, the downfall of President Soeharto and the uprising of more democracy society in the country have encouraged the people to open their own tin mining sites despite the government?s ban. The activities of the illegal tin mining activities are no longer controllable. The government then issued a regulation banning the export of tin ore in a bid to control the quality of tin metal exported from Indonesia. But this policy does not really help.(*)