On (04/10), took place in Harris Hotel, South Jakarta, the coalition of civil society who affiliated as Publish What You Pay Indonesia held a roundtable discussion about the problem and the effectiveness of reclamation and post-mining implementation. These two issues are the crucial aspects in Indonesia’s mining governance.
“From year to year, the index of land reclamation’s quality in Indonesia has decreased. One of the reasons is due to lack of reclamation and post mining’s enforcement. Open-pit mines in Indonesia have reached 557 thousand hectares. This figure has not included the abandoned land site by illegal mining (PETI)”, said Sulistyowati, the Director of Open-Pit Loss Recovery, Ministry of Environment and Forestry (LHK) on the opening session of the discussion.
She continued that the lack of the implementation of reclamation and post-mining is due to low reclamation fund as well as the widespread of illegal miners. Therefore, it is important to establish a standard to formulate the reclamation fund. “Besides, the mining permit (IUP) holders should not conduct reclamation in the mining area, but also in the outside of mining area. IUP holders also have to conserve the mining area, 20% of it in minimum,” stated Sulistyowati.
This similar challenge has also revealed by Melky Patiung, a representative of Agency of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) in North Kalimantan Province. “Low reclamation fund has caused many companies to neglect their responsibilities when the mine sources have run out. Their existences are questionable and untraceable. On the other hand, they have left many problematic issues in the mining area.”
However, Aries Syafrizal, a representative of Agency of ESDM in South Sumatera Province, argued a more basic problem related to the reclamation and post-mining, which is the different understanding of many stakeholders in executing the policy of reclamation and post-mining. “Ministry of LHK and ESDM have different regulations regarding mining reclamation. Even the understanding of policymakers in the Ministry of ESDM is also different,” claimed Aries.
Jajat Sudrajat, a representative of Directorate of Engineering and Environmental Mining, Ministry of ESDM, has admitted that there are several obstacles in the implementation of reclamation and post-mining, including the authority transition period after the enactment of Law No. 23/2014 of Local Government. “We keep evaluating to pursue a more comprehensive governance of reclamation and post-mining. One of the efforts is to revise the Regulation of the Minister No. 7 Year 2014,” explained Jajat.
On the other hand, Hendra Sinadia, a representative of Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI), has stated that many companies already aware the importance of reclamation obligation. However, there are also some un-responsible companies that neglect the obligation by utilizing the loophole of the regulation.
Regulation improvement was suggested by Rabin Ibnu Zainal, executive director of Pilar Nusantara. “The quality of regulation and importantly its implementation are urgently needed to improve. This is important to impose the deterrent impact in which case would minimize the violation practices conducted by business entities”.
This discussion has managed to produce recommendations related to the reclamation and post-mining issues, which include regulation improvement, coordination between institutions, and the capacity building for related institution, both in the national and sub-national level.