Mining Advoicacy Network (Jatam) has strongly condemned the draft revision of the 2009 Mining Law and demanded the government and House of Representatives (DPR) to stop the entire deliberation of law draft revision.
Alfarhat Kasman, a Jatam campaigner, said House’s Legislation Body’s (Baleg) revision of Mining Law No. 4/2009 is an effort by politicians in the House to plunder Indonesia’s natural resources, particularly minerals, systematically in group and ostensibly in legal manner.
“The plundering of natural resources is inseparable from the background and interests of political elites in the (presidential) palace and the parliament, the majority of whom come from business background,“ Alfarhat said in a statement made available to Indonesia Business Post on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.
An investigation by the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) reveals that around 61 percent or 354 individuals out of 580 House members for 2024 -2029 period have background or affiliations with the business sector.
On January 21, 2025, the Baleg formally agreed on the fourth amendment to the 2009 Mining Law as a DPR initiative.
Likewise, Alfarhat said President Prabowo Subianto and his family also have direct interests in the mining business. Prabowo controls a number of coal concessionaires in East Kalimantan, including PT Nusantara Energy, PT Nusantara Kaltim Coal, and PT Erabara Persada Nusantara. Meanwhile, his younger brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, controls the Arsari Group, which owns more than two tin mining concessions in Bangka Belitung and recently bought shares in gold miner PT Tambang Mas Sangihe (Baru Gold), located on the small island of Sangihe, North Sulawesi.
Prabowo’s cabinet is also packed with businesspeople in the extractive industry sector. Based on Jatam records, at least 34 of the 48 ministers in the Red and White Cabinet are affiliated with business, with 15 of them related to extractive businesses, including Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia, who has a nickel business in North Maluku.
Alfarhat also alleged that politicians “hijack” Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution to polish their image when prioritizing the granting of mining concession to universities and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). One of the basic arguments used In the law draft revision is that minerals and coal are natural resources that must be controlled by the State and used for the greatest prosperity of the people.
“This effort to involve universities in mining affairs can also be seen as a way for the government to ‘wash its hands’ on the welfare of academics. The state’s (government’s) incompetence in guaranteeing the welfare of academics is to be resolved in a deceitful way: letting the campus support itself by mining,” he said.
House response
Baleg chairman, Bob Hasan, has denied the accusation, saying that the law revision is in congruent with the needs of the people and the government’s economic growth target, and is held by carrying out affirmative action for certain sectors such as education, religious organizations, small and medium enterprises and individuals.
“They (academics and MSMEs) are encouraged and given opportunities to manage the mines. Most importantly, downstreaming is a national target expected to maintain the potential of natural resources to become finished goods for domestic and foreign interests as well as create jobs,” he said.
The Mining Law draft revision includes:
- Prioritizing the granting of mining business permit (IUP) with an area of less than 2,500 hectares to MSMEs.
- Providing a legal basis for granting mining business permit area ( WIUP) to religious community organizations.
- Prioritizing the granting of WIUP to universities.
- Prioritizing the granting of WIUP in the context of downstreaming.
- Management of Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) by the minister without clearly stating the authorized ministry.