TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Ombudsman finds maladministration in mining auctions
Change Size
Ombudsman Indonesia building in Jakarta (tribunnews.com/File)
T
he Ombudsman has found instances of maladministration in the implementation of auctions in the mining sector carried out by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
The Ombudsman has given the ministry 30 days to respond to the finding stated in the final investigation report submitted to the ministry on Jan. 23.
“The legal and administrative assessments have been explained in detail in the Ombudsman report,” said Ombudsman commissioner Laode Ida over the weekend, as reported by tribunnesw.com. He declined to reveal details of the findings.
Previously, the Ombudsman investigated complaints by the administrations of Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi on auctions of mining sites formerly managed by PT Vale Indonesia in the two provinces, that were won by state-owned diversified mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam).
Antam won the auction for a nickel mining block in Bahodopi Utara, Central Sulawesi, on Aug. 1, 2018, and a nickel mining block in Maratape in Southeast Sulawesi on Aug. 21.
From the actions of six special mining permit areas (WIUPK), only those two had been awarded to winners, while the four others would be auctioned this year.
Both local administrations complained about auction process, saying the areas should have been converted into state reserve areas (WPN) before being auctioned in a process that should have been approved by the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the conversion from WPN into WIUPK should have taken into consideration the aspirations of residents living near the sites.
Local administration-owned enterprises (BUMDs) had also sought to take over the mining blocks in question. (bbn)
