Pontianak – Calls for the government to immediately impose a moratorium on mining permits continue to grow stronger. This time, the voices are coming from the island of Kalimantan, a region long known as a hub for mineral and coal mining, even long before Indonesia’s independence. This push was openly expressed through a media discussion titled “The Urgency of a Mining Permit Moratorium: Promoting Improvements in Mineral and Coal Mining Governance and Crackdown on Illegal Mining in Kalimantan Island,” which was held in a hybrid format in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on November 28, 2025.
The event was initiated by civil society organizations affiliated with the Working Group Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia Regional Kalimantan, namely Gemawan, Pokja 30, and PADI Indonesia East Kalimantan. The discussion featured speakers including Andre Illu, Head of the People’s Management Division at WALHI West Kalimantan; Buyung Marajo, Coordinator of Pokja 30; and Among, Coordinator of PADI Indonesia East Kalimantan.
In his presentation, Andre Illu emphasized that mining-sector policies require comprehensive evaluation and improvement. He highlighted ongoing corruption-related loopholes in the permitting system, weak institutional coordination, and ineffective oversight that often favors non-community-managed areas. According to him, mining issues are not merely about permit legality but about structural failures in governance.
Andre stressed that governance improvements must include cracking down on illegal mining (PETI) through supply-chain tracing, integrating community-managed areas into Regional Spatial Planning (RTRW), strengthening oversight and transparency, and imposing a moratorium on the issuance of new mining permits. He reminded that a moratorium without reorganizing community-managed areas would only delay damage, not resolve the root problems. The state, he said, must be present through fair spatial planning, law enforcement, environmental restoration, and audits of past mining permits. In this context, PETI is seen not merely as a legal issue but as a reflection of governance failures that directly impact human rights.
“The government has failed to implement equitable spatial planning. The state often acts as a protector of investments. A moratorium won’t automatically solve mining problems, but at least it provides space to reorganize mining management for the better, while opening opportunities to save affected communities,” said Andre.
Meanwhile, Buyung Marajo from Pokja 30 highlighted the poor implementation of post-mining reclamation in East Kalimantan. He noted that reclamation is often suboptimal, leaving many former mining pits open. This condition not only damages the environment but also claims lives, with most victims being children. Weak oversight is a significant factor, as the central and regional governments are deemed ineffective at monitoring mining companies’ reclamation obligations.
Buyung also criticized the lack of transparency and public information disclosure in the mining sector. Public access to information on mining permits, Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) documents, reclamation plans, and reclamation guarantee funds remains difficult to obtain. In East Kalimantan, the region is already crowded with various large-scale mining permits. He views the extractive industry as wasteful of land and greedy for space, systematically displacing people’s living spaces.
According to Buyung, mining is often legitimized under the guise of investment and to increase regional and national revenues. However, the reality in mining-affected areas shows the opposite. Prosperity is merely an illusion, while what is real is the emergence of pockets of poverty, massive environmental damage, and ongoing suffering of the people. To this day, the government’s seriousness in overseeing this damage remains questionable.
From PADI Indonesia East Kalimantan’s perspective, the urgency of a mining permit moratorium is closely linked to the biodiversity crisis and threats to indigenous communities. It is reported that deforestation and forest degradation associated with mining activities have caused significant biodiversity loss. He noted that East Kalimantan accounts for approximately 38 percent of the national coal reserves, with mining concessions covering 1.5 million hectares. Of that area, about 29 percent is forested, including 55,561 hectares of primary forest.
It is outlined that the impacts of mining on indigenous communities are extensive, ranging from the loss of traditional livelihoods such as farming and hunting, damage to clean water sources, to increased human-wildlife conflicts due to disrupted forest habitats. Additionally, indigenous communities often face criminalization and intimidation when defending their rights, including the seizure of customary lands and loss of cultural identity.
“The damage from natural resource management that does not prioritize sustainability is increasingly destroying the living spaces of indigenous communities. They continue to be criminalized when trying to defend their territories, amid a worsening biodiversity crisis,” said Among.
The data- and fact-based arguments presented by the speakers further underscore the urgency of imposing a moratorium on mining permits. Similar calls have previously been voiced by civil society organizations across Indonesia, including Sumatra, Java, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, North Maluku, and Papua, which are affiliated with PWYP Indonesia. The diverse perspectives stem from the same issues, namely the ecological crisis caused by mining activities, which threatens people’s living spaces and environmental sustainability. This condition demonstrates that a mining permit moratorium is no longer merely a matter of discourse but an urgent necessity.