Indonesia open-pit ban hits regions, official says
Date: 19-Feb-02
Country: INDONESIA
"Many regional provinces have expressed their dissatisfaction with the forestry law banning open-pit mining. That can trigger disintegration in this country," the official told Reuters.
That is because "many of the areas cannot enjoy their rich resources because of that law while several other areas have already mined their resources such as coal, gold and nickel, contributing to their regional development," he said.
"Several foreign investors have said they are actually still interested to invest in Indonesia mining activities, but they want certainty in that forestry law," the official said.
Indonesia's Papua has urged Australia's BHP Billiton to stay in a nickel mine project on the province's Gag Island and asked the government to allow the project, provincial governor Jacob Soloussa has said.
BHP Billiton said last month in Melbourne it was reviewing its options for Gag Island. With an estimated 240 million tonnes of nickel, the project had been viewed by the market as one of the company's longer-term sources of growth.
An official at the mines and energy ministry has said separately that the government was working on issuing regulations that could ease mining restrictions.