South Kalimantan governor threatens to stop Arutmin's export

South Kalimantan Governor Sjachriel Darham reiterated that his administration would ban the export of coal mining companies which have not settled royalty payment the local government, the local Banjarmasin Post daily reported on Wednesday.

The paper quoted Sjachriel as saying that the local administration would not issue the necessary certificate of origin (CO) to exporters if they fail to settle their royalty arrears by the end of next month.

"The deadline is end of July. No more bargaining," he said.

As previously reported, four out of six coal mining firms operating in the province had unpaid royalty of around Rp 500 billion. The largest offender is PT Arutmin Indonesia, which owes around Rp 200 billion in unpaid royalty. The firms should have already paid the royalty at the end of last year. The report did not say the name of other companies.

An official at the ministry of eenergy and mineral resources confirmed that Arutmin owed US$18 million in 2002 and 2003 royalty payment.(*)