Miners file lawsuit against government for revoking their licenses

Petromindo|Thomas

Some miners whose IUP mining business licenses have been revoked have filed lawsuit against the government with the State Administrative Court, Kontan reported on Monday.

?They file lawsuit with the State Administrative Court. Let them be ?. We?ll face them,? said Director General of Mineral and Coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Bambang Gatot Ariyono to the paper, but declined to disclose the identity of the mining firms.

The government has started revoking mining business licenses (IUPs) of miners which have failed to meet the so-called clean and clear (C&) requirement. The miners fail to meet the C&C requirements among others because they have not paid financial obligations to the state including tax and royalty properly or their concessions are in overlapping problem.

According to ministry data, as per end January 2017, there are a total of 9,433 IUPs, of which 3,203 IUPs are still in non-C&C status. So far the government has revoked 38 IUPs and cancelled 200 IUPs. (*)