Joint mining industry committee demands clarity on ore export ban | Regulation data
(Insider Stories) — A joint committee mining industry committee has been formed in order to demand clarity from the government on its plan to ban raw mineral exports from next year and mandate ore be refined locally as chaos continues in the mining industry, The Jakarta Globe reports.
It quotes Indonesia Coal Mining Association chairman Bob Kamandanu as saying the current chaos in the industry is straining development plans of mining operations. Committee chief Irwandy Arif says the first task is to map the ongoing problems in the country’s mining industry, “then after that we will provide solutions for problems to the government.” He adds the 2009 mining law lacks a plan for coordination among related ministries and government agencies to support mining activities, while regional autonomy has led to clashes of authority between the central and regional governments, but says the committee doesn’t have an official position on whether it will ask the government to annul or revise the law.
Resources minister Jero Wacik said last week the government will try to find loopholes in the law that mandates mining companies develop smelters by next year to process their ore before export or be closed down. Indonesian Mining Association chairman Martiono Hadianto, also president director of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, is quoted as saying the government must offer more to encourage miners to build smelters: “For the government, it is always hak [rights] first and then kewajiban [obligation]…They don’t know that in order to earn their rights they must pay their dues first.”
