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President Orders Review on All Mining Permits
January 13, 2012

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Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered a review of all mining permits issued by local governments in an attempt to improve transparency and accountability in the sector, according to a statement from the office of the cabinet secretary on its website on Friday.

Yudhoyono set a December 2012 deadline for the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to complete the task, and to work with the domestic affairs ministry, the justice and human rights ministry and all local governments.

“President [Yudhoyono] has ... ordered improved monitoring of operations in the mining sector so that it is accountable,” said a statement by the cabinet secretary’s office. The order was signed on Dec. 19 but was only made public on Friday.

Indonesia contains some of the world’s richest mineral deposits, and the fast-growing mining sector contributes 11.2 percent to the country’s gross domestic product. But ownership of natural resources is an increasingly sensitive political issue, especially foreign ownership.

The energy ministry has been drafting a rule that would by 2014 require miners to carry out minimum processing on minerals before export.

Any regulation would be part of a mining and coal law introduced in 2009 that requires miners to process coal and minerals into higher-value products before exporting them, in a bid to boost state revenue. There are currently more than 100 unresolved disputes involving mine ownership or licences at the energy ministry, according to analyst estimates. 


JG, Reuters