Timah has no objection to re-operation of smelters

State tin miner PT Timah said that the company did not mind if a number of smelters that have been closed down can re-operate in Bangka Belitung province provided that they comply with the existing regulations, Investor Daily reported Friday.

?We (PT Timah) are ready to cooperate with any party as long as it complies with the existing regulations,? said Timah?s president director Thobrani Alwi in Jakarta Thursday.

According to Thobrani, a number of smelters are striving to re-operate by improving the operation license, which is now under the authority of the ministry of energy and mineral resources and is no longer under the authority of the ministry of industry.

?The clear thing is that there won?t be any new smelter operating. The old license is renewed and we are ready to work together with (any party) to develop tin in a right way,? he said.

The ministry of energy and mineral resources, other related parties and local administration in Bangka Belitung administration have agreed in a meeting that the license issue would be left to Bangka Belitung administration.

Earlier, minister of energy and mineral resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro strongly denied a statement saying that the ministry had issued a license for smelters and a mining authority. ?The license was extended in an era prior to the advent of regional autonomy. Now, the policy on permit has been left to local administration,? he said. (*)