Provincial governments have to start revoking the existing non-clean and clear (non-CnC) mineral and coal mining permits (IUP) as the continued development by companies and the evaluation period by local governments has passed the deadline of Jan. 2, an activist has said.

The provincial governors then need to resolve the status of the land, especially if the mining activity occurs in a forest area, said Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia advocacy manager Aryanto Nugroho.

“Closing the non-CnC IUP should not be an endless problem. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has stepped in to monitor and supervise the evaluation of these permits since three years ago,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

He added that based on KPK data, around 6.3 million hectares of mining sites were located in conservation forest areas.

According to data from the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) ministry, as of Dec. 20, there were 9,721 IUPs issued by regional governments and 6,335 of those were already CnC, meaning that there were still 3,386 non-CnC IUPs.

In order to obtain CnC status, the permit holders must ensure that its mining area does not overlap with other IUP holders’ mining areas and ensure that all of its documents are in line with prevailing laws and regulations. (bbn)

Source: Jakartapost.com