PT Berkah Usaha Muamalah, a business unit of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization established to manage 25-26,000 hectares (ha) of mining concession in East Kalimantan, is currently progressing toward exploration permit.
NU chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf said that the business shares are owned by the NU Cooperatives, which is co-managed by administrators and residents.
Currently, NU is working to meet all the requirements to start exploration. The NU executive board is looking for investors for reclamation of the mining concession.
“Speaking about the coal potential of the concession area, we have to wait for results of the exploration. Right now, the permit for exploration is still being processed,” Yahya said in Jakarta as quoted by Antara, on Saturday, January 4, 2025.
Currently, the mining business permit area has been issued, so the process of obtaining the permit for exploration can begin even though there are many requirements to fulfill.
On the other hand, the future direction of the business has not yet been designed, because this depends on the calculation of the business investment to do.
The country’s 7th president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued a Presidential Regulation (Perpres) which allows the distribution of Mining Business Permits (IUP) to religious community organizations (Ormas), including Region-Owned Enterprises (BUMD), Village-Owned Enterprises (BUM Desa), and cooperatives.
These provisions are stipulated in Presidential Decree No. 76/2024 on Land Allocation for Investment Arrangement which was signed by President Jokowi on July 22, 2024.
