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Illegal mining must stop, but how
Those practicing illegal mining, having no mining business permits (IUPs), have no responsibility to pay taxes, or to prepare and carry out community development and social empowerment.
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Rescue teams conduct a search for miners buried by a landslide at an illegal gold-mining operation in the village of Buranga in Parigi Moutong regency, Central Sulawesi on Feb. 25, 2021. (Agence France Presse/Lia)
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llegal mining activities have claimed lives, again. On Nov. 15, a traditional miner in Pohuwato regency, Gorontalo, Risman Djuma, 23, died after the mining hole he was in collapsed. His friends had tried to rescue him but to no avail.
The incident at the slope of Mount Pani came just days after a resident of Bulangita village, also in Pohuwato regency, was buried alive in an illegal mining site in Botudulanga village.
Accidents resulting from illegal mining activities are not new. Some traditional miners were “lucky” not to lose their lives, but suffer permanent injuries. However, one death is just too many. According the Pohuwato Police, illegal mining activities in the area have killed at least seven people in the past 12 months alone.
Elsewhere, in North Sumatra, 12 women were buried alive in an illegal mine in Bandar Limabung village in Mandailing Natal regency in April. Indeed, illegal mining activities anywhere in the world are prone to accidents.
Are those accidents the only consequences of illegal-mining activities? Are there any other upshots? What actions are needed to address this long-standing issue?
For sure, aside from accidents, which are oftentimes fatal, illegal-mining practices cause environmental degradation, trigger conflicts in society and financially contribute nothing to the state and the local community.
Those practicing illegal mining, having no mining business permits (IUPs), have no responsibility to pay taxes or to prepare and carry out community development and social empowerment, unlike legal miners. Illegal miners are not supposed to protect the environment either.
