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Energy minister opposes mining law revision
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Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan (The Jakarta Post/wienda parwitasari)
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nergy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan has questioned the House of Representatives’ efforts to amend the 2009 Mining Law, saying that another change to the law would only bring uncertainty in the country’s mining sector.
After submitting the draft revision of the law to the House Legislation Body (Baleg) in March, lawmakers are set to start discussing the bill along with the government this month and complete the whole revision process by July at the latest.
However, Jonan said the revision might not be a good idea, especially considering that the law had only been in place for less than a decade, while the mining industry actually needed long-term stability.
“I personally said, if it is possible, we do not need to amend the mining law,” Jonan said on Wednesday.
“The substance of the mining law is quite generic. Why do we need to amend this if we can accommodate [businesses] with other regulations? Otherwise, we will keep changing the law, which will be not good for the mining industry.”
As stated in the draft revision dated March 7, the new mining law will provide several incentives for miners committed to integrating processing activities of mineral and coal from the upstream to the downstream sector.
For instance, miners that have integrated their operations with processing facilities will be granted a license for production and operation for a 20-year period, which will be directly extended for another 20 years, with an option to renew it for an additional 10 years. (bbn)
