BALIKPAPAN, KOMPAS — The Nusantara Capital City Authority and the police have been cracking down on illegal activities in the new capital area, located in Penajam Paser Utara Regency and Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan. Civil society organizations are urging authorities not only to arrest field actors but also to cut off the entire chain of illegal activities.
Inspector General Edgar Diponegoro, Special Staff to the Head of the Nusantara Capital City Authority (IKN) for Security and Public Safety, stated that in September 2025 at least three illegal activities in the IKN area were legally processed. This was carried out by the IKN Authority and law enforcement officers under the Task Force for Combating Illegal Activities in IKN.
“In addition to illegal coal mining, the task force also found forest encroachment, massive land clearing, and illegal buildings standing along the border of Sepaku District (Penajam Paser Utara) to Km 70 in Batuah Village, Samboja District (Kutai Kartanegara),” Edgar said on Sunday (October 5, 2025).
On September 28, 2025, a joint team secured seven trucks loaded with illegally mined coal at the Samboja-Balikpapan Toll Gate. The case was handed over to the East Kalimantan Regional Police (Polda Kaltim) for further investigation.
The next day, on September 29, 2025, the team discovered stockpiles of coal and white sand from illegal mining in the Bukit Tengkorak protected forest, Suko Mulyo Village, Sepaku District. This site is about 30 kilometers from the IKN State Palace. Authorities found 2,000–3,000 tons of coal stockpiles and sand ready for transport at several points. As a result, surrounding protected forests had been cleared.
Edgar stated that the illegal mining site had been abandoned when officers arrived. The case is currently under investigation by Polda Kaltim and other law enforcement bodies.
Another finding involved forest encroachment for plantations, illegal housing construction, and illegal stalls in the Bukit Soeharto Grand Forest Park conservation area. “All these activities have been officially reported to Polda Kaltim for follow-up,” Edgar said.
Polda Kaltim spokesperson Commissioner Yuliyanto confirmed that all task force findings are being investigated further. “They are being processed by the Special Criminal Directorate of Polda Kaltim,” he stated.
Besides (illegal coal) mining, the task force also found forest encroachment, massive land clearing, and illegal buildings.
Cutting the Chain
In December 2023, the IKN Authority recorded at least 3,000 hectares of land in the IKN area suspected to have been mined without permits, mostly for coal, encroaching on and damaging forests (Kompas, 30/12/2023).
The Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia coalition urged the government to take responsibility and immediately reform mining governance. To prevent the recurrence of long-standing illegal practices, they demanded improvements in monitoring and oversight.
Apart from the September 2025 cases, there was also an illegal coal mining case in the IKN area, specifically in Bukit Soeharto Grand Forest Park, Samboja District, Kutai Kartanegara. This was announced in a press release in Surabaya, East Java, on July 17, 2025.
Police reported that the mining area covered 186 hectares. The illegal operation had been running since 2016, almost a decade before arrests were made—long before IKN’s establishment.
PWYP Indonesia researcher Adzkia Farirahman stated that the long-running illegal mining in IKN reflects a failure of oversight in the mineral and coal mining sector.
“How could illegal mining operate for so long in a national priority area like IKN without early detection?” Adzkia said.
He also urged law enforcement not only to catch field actors but also to dismantle the entire chain of illegal mining. According to her, illegal mining persists because of an ecosystem involving multiple actors.
This ecosystem includes financiers, workers, enforcers, and buyers of illegal mining products. PWYP Indonesia noted that perpetrators often used official documents from licensed mining companies (IUP holders) during illegal coal shipments.
These documents made it appear as though the coal originated from legitimate operations, a collusion involving multiple parties.
“A comprehensive investigation must explore strong allegations of involvement from miners, transport service providers, shipping agents, licensed companies, port operations, and even officials,” Adzkia emphasized.
Source: Kompas