Regional Governments Pledge Tighter Monitoring

Various problems in former mining regions occur because of poor monitoring and law enforcement. In relation to this, a number of agencies across several regions have pledged to tighten monitoring and law enforcement.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

A man walks down a path at a former mine on Thursday (9/1/2020) in Namang village, West Bangka regency, where new plant growth has started appearing. Efforts are being made to rehabilitate the mine, but some fail because they do not involve community participation.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Indonesian Ombudsman has also highlighted the poor monitoring and actions. The Ombudsman said on Tuesday (14/1/2020) that problems surrounding mine-site reclamation were exacerbated by ignoring illegal mining practices.

In order to improve monitoring of former mines, the head of East Kalimantan’s Energy and Mineral Resources Agency, Wahyu Widhi Heranata, said that the budget for a mining inspector to monitor corporations had been increased to Rp 1.5 billion (US$109,700) this year. “Previously, it was only Rp 650 million. This increased budget will improve monitoring throughout the mine operation process,” he said.

However, in terms of human resources, shortages persist. Wahyu said that East Kalimantan currently had 37 mining inspectors, each of whom monitors five or six companies. Ideally, one inspector monitors two or three companies.

Furthermore, to prevent recurring damages caused by mining, Wahyu said that more attention would be given to spatial planning in concession areas in the issuance of mining permits in East Kalimantan in the future. Recovery would be prioritized in areas already surrounded by mines, in line with the companies’ reclamation and post-mining processes. “Post-mining monitoring will be tightened by ensuring that all the activities are in line with companies’ reclamation and post-mining activity plans,” Wahyu said.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

A makeshift barge is used in illegal tin mining activities off the coast of Sampur Beach on Friday (10/1/2020) in Bukit Intan district, Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung. The illegal activity has diminished the local fish population, affecting the livelihood of fishermen.

Former mining holes

As of late 2018, Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) monitoring found 3,092 former coal mines were not yet rehabilitated. East Kalimantan had the most former mines with 1,735, followed by South Kalimantan with 814, South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan with 163 each and Jambi with 59.

In several of these former mining sites, the mine pits remain open and have turned into lakes of greenish water. Such holes may threaten access roads into villages, such as in Makmur Mulia village, Satui district, Tanah Bumbu regency, South Kalimantan (Kompas, 13/1/2020).

South Kalimantan Environment Agency head Hanifah Dwi Nirwana said that reclamation and rehabilitation of former mines should be the responsibility of companies that own the mining permits (IUP). “Currently, it is difficult to trace the presence of companies responsible for reclamation because of the huge number of IUP expiring before the authority [to oversee the mining industry] was moved from regencies to provinces,” Hanifah said.

According to her, the provincial administration also faced difficulties in carrying out reclamation with the reclamation and post-mining guarantee budgets being managed by the regency administrations, as the amount is too small. “The amount is not in line with reclamation and post-mining documents,” Hanifah said.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Seedlings are planted at the site of a former mine in Namang district, Central Bangka regency, Friday (10/1/2020). Closed mines can be rehabilitated and regreened by planting new trees.

After the mining oversight authority was moved from regency to provincial administrations on Jan. 1, 2017, the South Kalimantan administration had set the reclamation guarantee at between Rp 90 million and Rp 110 million per hectare. When the authority was still with the regency administration, the guarantee was only between Rp 15 million and Rp 20 million per ha.

Zaiwan, a resident of Namang village in Central Bangka regency, Bangka Belitung Islands, said he had rehabilitated 18 ha of the 21 ha of his former mine. The rehabilitation involved planting cassava, pelawan, eucalyptus, pepper and other types of vegetation. He said he spent about Rp 80 million to reclaim and rehabilitate his former mine. Other than using his own money, Zaiwan was helped by several parties to reclaim his former mine. “Planting trees in a former mine requires extra effort,” Zaiwan said.

In a press release received by Kompas on Tuesday, Indonesian Ombudsman member La Ode Ida said that the central and regional governments should uphold regulations on post-mining reclamation. He said that many companies still considered their post-mining legal responsibility to only extend to establishing a post-mining reclamation guarantee budget and not to making any effort to carry out reclamation or ensuring its success.