Illegal miners in forest areas get until January to turn legal
Tuesday, September 18 2012 - 06:50 AM WIB
The Indonesian government has set a deadline for miners who wish to acquire related forestry area utilization licenses until January 5, 2013 the latest, as stated within the newly released Government Regulation 61/2012.
"It will be considered illegal for companies who have done mining activities in forestry area but have not submitted their proposal until the deadline," Director General of Forestry Planning at Ministry of Forestry Bambang Soepijanto said today during a one day Petromindo seminar in JW Marriot Hotel.
As earlier reported in July the government had issued the regulation to give miners already operating in forestry areas a chance to acquire the forestry area 'borrow use' permit, under the condition that they have already acquired mining licenses to operate in areas included within regional governments' spatial planning.
"But I don't quite understand why there is no one company who has submitted a proposal even after two months since the release of the GR," Bambang said, adding that the GR only gives six months for proposal submission.
He said miners are encouraged to apply while compensation payments and other duties fulfillment can be addressed once the proposal has been submitted for review and due process.
Editing by Er Audy Zandri