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View all search resultsPrabowo vows determined crackdown on illegal mines
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Two miners pan for gold on July 7, 2020, along a stream near Korowai, Papua. (AFP/ Efert Abubar )
P
resident Prabowo Subianto has announced a determined crackdown on illegal mines, regardless of who runs or owns them, be they Indonesian Military (TNI) generals or politicians of his own Gerindra Party.
In his annual State of the Nation Address before the People’s Consultative Assembly on Friday, Prabowo alleged there are more than 1,000 illegal mining operations which have caused at least Rp 300 trillion (US$18.5 billion) in state losses.
“I’m warning you, bigshots, powerful people, be they generals from anywhere, be they from the Indonesian Military (TNI) or the police or former generals: no excuses, we will take action in the name of the people,” said Prabowo.
“And as a party leader, I warn members of all parties, including the Gerindra Party. [...] Even if you are Gerindra [members], I will not protect you,” he warned.
He went on to say that, if the perpetrators were regular people, he would seek ways to legalize the mines by turning them into cooperatives, stressing the idea that mining benefits should be enjoyed by the country instead of getting “smuggled” abroad.
“So long as I’m the President, don’t ever think the powerful and the rich can do as they like,” Prabowo asserted.
The government has recently greenlit the operation of sumur minyak rakyat (community oil wells) to avoid the practice of small, unlicensed oil pumping operations by actors frequently selling their output to illegal refineries.
