Mining bill draws mixed responses

Experts and mining executives give mixed responses to the mining bill that is currently still being drafted by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, to replace the outdated Mining Law No. 11/1967.

Speaking at a public debate on the mining bill, Hoediatmo Hoed of the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA), suggested that the bill incorporate rules that would be attractive for investment activities in the mining sector and minimize levies imposed on mining companies.

Hoediatmo noted that the bill should give mining investors legal certainty in their business in Indonesia and therefore the bill must first of all be in line with the existing laws on regional autonomy and on finance balance between central and regional administrations.

He suggested that the bill make it clear which levies that must be paid to the central government and which levies that must be paid to local administrations, be they provincial administrations or regencies.

"Thus, the investors will know all the levies they have to pay even before they get the mining license so that the investors will be able to calculate whether their investment will be viable or not," he said.

Meanwhile, the coordinator of the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), Chalid Muhammad, said that the mining bill would likely create new conflicts because it was very sectoral, not democratic in nature and served the interest of big investors.

"The bill is made using the same paradigm with the one adopted by law no. 11/1967 on mining," Chalid said at the public debate.

He also warned that the bill would open loopholes for local administrations to excessively exploit their areas to achieve high local income without taking care of the environmental impacts.

"If that happens, it is possible that ecological disaster will return to Indonesia," he said.

Meanwhile, the director general of general mining at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Surna Tjahja Tjajadiningrat, denied allegations that the bill was undemocratic in nature and would create disaster to the environment.

He noted that the bill accommodated all new issues that became global concerns, including human rights, democracy and the environment.

Surna also noted that the bill would support the implementation of regional autonomy to improve the welfare of local people, and therefore most of mining businesses would be handled by local administrations.

"Hopefully, with the hand-over of mining business to local administrations, the people's welfare will improve," he said in the public debate. (*)