Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia in cooperation with SOMASI NTB held a Focus Group Discussion entitled “Opportunity in Implementing the Contract and License Document in Mining Sector in West Nusa Tenggara Province,” last (4/3) in Mataram City. The discussion attended by the representatives from the Main Information and Documentation Management Officer (PPID), the Information and Documentation Management Officer of Energy and Mineral Resource Agency, Environment and Forestry Agency, Regional Revenue Agency, Ombusdman representative for NTB, academics, and civil society.
Hendriadi, the Chairman of West Nusa Tenggara Provincial Information Commission, said that in terms of information disclosure, there is no absolute confidentiality in the contract transparency. Thus, mining contract documents and licenses are open documents.
“The rest is how the public body commitment to open the documents, following the laws and regulations, said Hendriadi.
One of the challenges in encouraging the mining contract and license information disclosure, according to Hendriadi, was the Public Information Commission had not functioned properly.
PPID is still considered as an additional task, coupled with the lack of PPID’s capacity in understanding the public information, inadequate public information facilities, and infrastructure, limited budget allocation. Besides, the lack of public participation in promoting the public information disclosure which is characterized by the lack of awareness to access information and the small number of submission of information request through the Public Information System (SIP) Application.
Mastari, Head of Mineral and Coal of EMR Agency of West Nusa Tenggara, said that after the issuance of Law no 23/2014 concerning Regional Government, which consequences to the transfer of authority in mining permits publication from the district government to the provincial government, were that many mining permit documents that did not store properly in the district government. Therefore, the government requested the licensed from the companies who hold the mining permits.
As for the mining permit document application, until this time there is no information request application from the community to the Energy and Mineral Resources Agency and DPM PTSP of West Nusa Tenggara.
“Even if later there are people who want to request the mining permit, The Energy and Mineral Resources Agency will uphold the commitments following the laws and regulations, because it doesn’t need to be covered up, and community participation will help the government in matters of supervision,” said Mastari.