Civil society urged the government, especially the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources through the Directorate General of minerals (minerba) to follow up on a number of recommendations from the results of the Corruption Eradication Commission’s prevention efforts through the coordination and supervision program (Korsup) in the mineral and coal sector. This is because the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal achievements are still lacking on Korsup Minerba’s commitment, especially in regards to controlling mining permits, financial obligations, monitoring production and sales. These are still far from what was expected.

Pius Ginting, Head of the WALHI Study Unit, stated that he appreciated the KPK and the Government’s steps to curb problematic mining permits. However, until early August 2015, mining business permits (IUP) that had not yet had the clear and clean status (CnC) were still 4,563 (42%) of the IUPs registered at the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal, namely 10,827 IUPs. The Director General of Mineral and Coal promised previously that in July 2015, if there were still IUPs that had not yet been CnC they would take over to revoke them. However, we do not see any strong political will from the Director General of Minerba to take action against non-CnC IUPs.

“On the other hand, due to the prevalence of non-CnC IUP practices, it is known that as many as six million hectares of mining permits are located in conservation and protected forest areas, which in fact will disturb the stability of the environment. So far, based on the latest data as of August 2015, 1,087 IUPs have been revoked, “said Pius.
However, Pius continued, most of the licenses that were revoked, 95%, were exploration permits, not production. So that environmental damage continues to occur around coal mining, and the country does not get much profit, especially since coal prices are currently falling. Therefore, he hopes the government will revoke all coal mining permits that are not clear and clean, damage the environment of residents, and come into conflict with residents.

Ki Bagus Hadi Kusuma, campaigner for JATAM said that it is not only administratively problematic, but also the control over thousands of mining permits is very minimal, both in matters of environmental pollution, conflicts, and the safety of residents around the mine. In Samarinda, since 2011 until now, there are at least 11 children who have drowned in coal mining pits. The former mining holes are left gaping without being reclaimed. It is clear that the control of the local government itself is not maximally implemented, given the reclamation obligations that mining companies do not carry out. Even some of the companies that own these deadly mining holes have Non-CNC status, Graha Benua Etam is one of them.

“We urge the Government to immediately revoke the Non-CNC IUP. This initial step is a prerequisite for improving mining governance in Indonesia,” said Ki Bagus. “With the revocation of these thousands of Non-CNC IUPs, in the future the State will be easier to control and take action in the field,” he concluded.

In terms of financial liabilities, based on data from the Directorate General of Taxes, the 2010-2012 tax period turned out to be only 7,834 registered IUPs, of which 76% had NPWP or 5,984 IUPs. However, not all of these companies that have NPWP actually pay taxes. In fact, it is known that only 29% of the total IUP holders are compliant or 2,304 IUPs. “The issue of financial obligations also includes the requirements for CnC and the commitment to reform mining permits in Korsup Minerba. Therefore it is important that the Directorate General and related parties encourage compliance with mining permits on financial obligations, ”said Maryati Abdullah, National Coordinator of Publish What You Pay Indonesia.

The Directorate General of Mineral and Coal, continued Maryati, should also be able to collect non-tax state revenue arrears (PNBP) from land rents (fixed fees) and royalties to IUP owners that have not been paid. Based on data from Korsup Minerba during 2003-2012, there are still unpaid liabilities from IUP of Rp. 3,342 trillion, PKP2B of Rp. 3,433 trillion and Contract of Work of Rp. 1,532 trillion which should have been invoiced to cover the shortfall. Meanwhile, based on the calculation of Publish What You Pay Indonesia, the total potential lost for land leases (exploration IUP of USD 2 per hectare and production operations of USD 4 per hectare) in 30 mineral and coal producing provinces throughout Indonesia from 2010-2013 reached Rp. 1.55 trillion.

Apart from controlling permits and financial obligation, supervision of production and sales of mineral and coal products is still far from being improved. The Director General of Mineral and Coal has not seriously monitored the supervision of production and sales by revitalizing the role of the Research and Development Center for Mineral and Coal Technology (TekMira) as one of the surveyors. Do not let the company pay for the surveyor’s services so that it allows mark-up or mark-down practice in the report on the results of its supervision. The Directorate General of Mineral and Coal must also be concerned with this.

Korsup Minerba KPK has so far shown significant results. The initiative was implemented in 31 provinces. As a result, a number of positive achievements from the KPK Korsup began to appear, among which the significant was an increase in coal non-tax state revenue (PNBP) in 2014 of around IDR 10 trillion, although at the same time coal prices decreased by 30% compared to with 2013 and raw mineral exports are not enforced.

However, the anti-corruption action by the KPK in the SDA sector cannot actually be done by the KPK itself. Civil society support is needed to encourage KPK prevention measures using the Korsup method to be more effective and have a positive impact on society.

ISSUE THE PERMISSION

Head of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment Study Unit (Walhi) Pius Ginting said the government together with the KPK were asked to curb problematic mines. According to him, there are around 10,827 Mining Business Permits (IUP) that do not have Clear and Clean (CnC) status.

“It is known that as many as 6 million hectares of mining permits are located in conservation and protected forest areas, which incidentally will disturb the stability of the environment,” Pius said in his statement.

He said the KPK could not work in eradicating corruption in the natural resource sector. Thus, Pius explained, it needs the involvement of the public to prevent corruption in the sector to be more effective. Pius emphasized that the revocation of permits for problematic permits is one of the first steps to improve mining governance throughout Indonesia.