Southeast Sulawesi Administration to control nickel ore shipments

The provincial administration of Southeast Sulawesi will establish a special team to monitor and control nickel ore shipments to ensure that all nickel miners pay their royalties to the government, Governor Nur Alam said.

Nur Alam said in the province?s capital city of Kendari on Wednesday that nickel miners were obliged to pay royalties of 4 percent for every sale of nickel ore. However, many of the nickel miners in the province did not pay the royalties resulting in financial losses of billions of rupiah.

The governor said that the royalties should be calculated and paid at the local ports before the export.

?I will issue a regulation for the establishment of the supervising team for nickel exports in Southeast Sulawesi,? he said, adding that the team will comprise senior officials from the governor?s office, customs office and port authority.

Meanwhile, the head of the department for mineral, coal and geothermal at the province?s energy and mineral resources office, Burhanuddin, said that the obligation to pay royalty was imposed on nickel producers. ?But in the reality, the shipments are mostly conducted by buyers. That?s why royalties are not paid,? he added.

He said that there were at least 35 nickel shipments from the province?s five nickel producing areas a month, carrying between 50,000 tonnes and 70,000 tonnes each. ?We suspected at least 50 percent of the nickel shipments did not pay royalties,? he said, adding that the local government suffered financial loss of at least Rp 17 billion a month from the unpaid nickel royalties. (*)