W

est Sumatra is in need of a presidential instruction (Inpres) to stop illegal gold-mining activities that have caused extensive damage in the Batanghari River, South Solok regency, an official has said.

West Sumatra Water Resources Management Agency (PSDA) head Ali Musri believed that only an Inpres could stop uncontrolled and widespread illegal gold-mining activities that have been carried out in the area since 2010.

'€œOnly a presidential instruction will be able to handle the damage, which needs trillions of rupiah in funds. It is really out of control and very dangerous,'€ Ali told The Jakarta Post, Friday.

The 800-kilometer long Batanghari is the longest river on Sumatra island and the fourth biggest nationwide. The river, which passes through West Sumatra and Jambi provinces, has since the Hindu-Buddhist Era been known as a gold-production center where numerous mines operate.

Currently, some 30 km of the river'€™s upstream area located in South Solok regency has been turned into a center of both traditional and modern gold-mining activities.

Some 3,000 people are estimated to have been involved in the activities, operating about 300 excavators every day. Most of them reportedly operate illegally.

The use of mercury in the mining process was also endangering water quality, Ali said, as downstream there was a dam in Dharmasraya regency which irrigated over 20,000 hectares of agricultural fields.

The local tap water company also uses the river as a water source while local fishermen breed fish in keramba (fish cages) placed in the river.

'€œThis is for sure endangering the people'€™s health,'€ he said.

Ali said he did not know for certain who owned the excavators used in the illegal gold-mining activities. Raids, he said, did not seem to yield significant result as miners along with the excavators could just disappear over a hill.

Difficult access to the areas, according to Ali, required huge funds to follow offenders to their hideouts.

Over Rp 1 trillion (US$79 million), he said, was also needed to deal with damage along the banks of the Batanghari River to improve the embankments and strengthen cliffs.

'€œWe proposed this to the public works minister two years ago but so far have received no response,'€
Ali said.

Separately, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment'€™s (Walhi) West Sumatra branch, Uslaini, urged the government to seriously address the problem. She expressed suspicion that the illegal activities had been receiving backup from a particular party.

'€œWe cannot understand why 300 units of excavators could enter the location without the consent of the apparatus,'€ Uslaini told the Post.

West Sumatra Police chief Brig. Gen. Bambang Sri Herwanto, during a coordination meeting with the West Sumatra PSDA, said that legalizing or curbing illegal mining activities could not yet be conducted as doing so would require sustainable surveillance for up to 20 km along the Batanghari River.

Bambang said that substantial funds would be needed for the measure due to the hard-to-access areas.

A three-month operation, he said, could require up to Rp 40 billion in funds.

He said that some initial steps could be taken to deal with the problem, including limiting access to fuel and the entrance of heavy equipment to the mining sites. Other steps include tightening licensing on the use of heavy equipment for land-clearing purposes as an anticipatory measure.