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Energy ministry to scrutinize tin mining firms amid Timah graft case
The ministry has only approved budget plans (RKABs) from 15 companies that account for 65 percent of the overall mine production capacity in 2023, which stood at around 74,000 tonnes of tin ores.
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People flock to a kaolinite lake in Air Bara village, on Bangka Island, in Bangka Belitung province on Sept. 16, 2019. Kaolinite lakes on the islands are formed in former tin mining pits and filled with turquoise waters that have attracted tourists visiting the islands. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
T
he Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said it would evaluate the work and budget plans (RKABs) of tin mining companies following the high-profile corruption case of PT Timah, which is estimated to have caused Rp 271 trillion (US$17 billion) in state losses.
A special staff member to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif, Irwandy Arif, said the RKAB evaluation process was a regular procedure, however, there were currently many companies that did not fulfill the requirements.
"Since there are ongoing [corruption] cases now, of course, these [companies] must be reevaluated. [This applies to] every company, not just PT Timah. All of them have parameters, and they must be fulfilled," Irwandy said on Friday.
Timah, the state-owned company that holds the largest tin mining concession areas in the country, has been engulfed in a graft case in which former top company executives allegedly enabled other companies to mine in Timah’s concession areas in Bangka Belitung and take the profit for its personal gain.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has named at least 16 suspects in the case including former Timah president director Mochtar Riza Pahlevi Tabrani.
The estimated Rp 271 trillion of potential state losses was calculated by IPB University environmental expert Bambang Hero Saharjo according to an Environment and Forestry Ministry regulation.
The estimated environmental losses consist of ecological losses of Rp 183.7 trillion, economic losses of Rp 74.4 trillion and the cost of environmental recovery at Rp 12.1 trillion.
