State mining firms given priority to use forest areas

By Samantha

The government will give state mining firms a priority to carry out mining operations in forest areas because they are part of the assets owned by the people, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan has said.

?If there are forest areas with mineral potentials, the state firms will be the first to be allowed to develop them, then national firms and joint ventures between national and foreign companies,? he said during his official visit in Jenu district in Tuban regency, Central Java.

The minister also said that companies which had already been given a forest-use permits to operate in forest areas, should fulfill their obligation areas specially those related to the compensation of the forest areas they use.

According to the regulation, a company should be able to provide compensation land double the size of the forest area it uses. ?It means if a company is allowed to use 500 hectares of forest areas, it should provide compensation land of about 1,000 hectares,? he said.

Editing by Adianto P. Simamora