Vice President promises to help solve land problems for Chinese smelter

Vice President Yusuf Kalla promised that the government will help Chinese mining firm Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry solve the land problems faced by its smelter project in Southeast Sulawesi province within a month.

The promised expressed by the Vice President in a meeting with the firm?s management on the sidelines of his working visit to Sanya, Haiman, China over the weekend, Bisnis.com Monday.

?(We hope it can be solved) in a month,? Kalla said.

Virtue Dragon plans to build a ferronickel plant in Konawe regency, Southeast Sulawesi with a total investment of US$5 billion through 2020, including $1 billion in the first phase. Once completed, the smelter may have a production capacity of 3 million tons of ferronickel per year.

The development of the project will be carried out in three phases, first on 100 ha of lands, then on 200 ha of lands in the second and third phases. The firm is the first company to occupy the Konawe industrial zone.

Kalla said the problem faced by the firm is that it has started the development of its smelter despite that land acquisition for the project had not yet been completed.

Franky Sibarani, Chairman of the National Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), explained the problem faced by the firm occurred due to the fact some of the lands inside the Kowane industrial zone are irrigation lands. Using such lands need coordination with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing and the Ministry of Spatial and Agrarian affairs.

?A lesson that can be taken from this is that a license is not immediately effective unless there are lands available with clear status,? Franky said. (*)