Tin smelters in Bangka island being assessed

The provincial administration of Bangka and Belitung province is assessing the worthiness of 37 tin smelters, which were recently closed for not meeting the local government's requirements.

Kompas reported Friday that the 29 of the tin smelters had been assessed but they would be allowed to resume operation only if they met the technical, quality standards and waste management.

The province's vice governor Suryadi Saman who is also the head of the team for the standardization of the local tin smelters said that the team would issue three recommendations to those tin smelters.

The three recommendations include allowing them to go ahead with their operation without any condition, operate with certain conditions and disallow them to operate.

He said that the smelters would not be allowed to resume operation if they did not have a tin concession area even if the technical standards of the tin smelters had met the standards.

"Hopefully, all of the recommendations to the smelters will be completed in early January 2007. They will not be allowed to operate until they get the recommendation," he said.

The closure of the smelters last month for not having tin concession areas angered traditional and illegal miners. They rallied and damaged the office of the provincial administration to protest the disclosure of the smelting plants.

The local government closed the operations of the smelters for buying tin ores from the illegal miners whose activities have caused as serious environmental damages. (*)