“For the WPR to be concluded, the local government [of Bangka Belitung] needs to be proactive and work closely with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. So far, the local government seems to disregard the issue,” as Bambang Herdiansyah, an Indonesian tin mining observer, urged.
As also previously pointed out by Thamrin Sihite, Director General of Mineral and Coal – Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the determination of WPR would be a key to solve illegal mining issue in Bangka Belitung Province. With a designated People’s Mining Area, local residents can apply for People’s Mining Permit (IPR in its Indonesian abbreviation), and earn legal status for their mining activities.
WPR determination is not a simple process. According to Article 47 Section 2 of the Government Regulation (PP) No. 23/2010, a Regent or a Mayor has the authority to establish the WPR. However, WPR can only be established after a WP is determined. And unfortunately, Bangka Belitung Province does not have a WP just yet.
“Meanwhile, determining WP is under the authority of central government, i.e. the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources,” told Sony Heru Prasetyo, from the Legal Department of Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, in an interview with Majalah TAMBANG late last week (3/8).
The absence of WPR and weak law enforcement has been deemed as the cause of illegal mining problems in the largest tin producing province in Indonesia. Illegal mining practices referred to are those small-scale mining operated by local residents within Mining Business Area (WUP in its Indonesian abbreviation) which doesn’t belong to them. For the record, PT Timah (Persero), Tbk owns 88.7% of the designated WUP in the province, and many of the illegal mining activities operate within its boundaries.
Although the state owned tin mining company has officially refused to buy tin sands from such operations, illegal miners may still have access to private smelters and tin collectors. Bambang Herdiansyah claimed that it would be easy to prove such existence of illegal tin supply to private smelters. “Just count the ratio of the production and IUP area of PT Timah, and then compare them with the accumulation of what the private smelters have,” he explained.
According to the data from Bangka Belitung Province Local Mining Bureau, total tin export reached a sum of 127,236 MT in 2005, with PT Timah accounted only 40,184 MT of production, while Koba Tin and other combined private smelters accounted 22,810.52 MT and 64,241.48 MT of production respectively. The statistics oddity continues, and in 2012 the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal recorded a total tin production of 95,000 tons, whilst PT Timah’s production fall below 40,000 tons.
The existing situation of illegal mining would cause a great loss for both PT Timah and the people of Bangka Belitung, taking into account the insuppressible environmental damages. However, it would not be fair if small-scale tin mining operations by local residents are all deemed illegal, because it has been a major source of income for the people in Bangka Belitung.
Bambang Herdiansyah further explained that the current situation is transitional, because in reality the people’s mining operations has existed, while their licensing are pending for the WPR establishment. Under such condition, Article 10 Section 4 of the Ministerial Regulation (Permen) No. 24/2012 has stipulated that local people could carry on with their small-scale mining activities under a partnership with national or local state-owned enterprises.
“However, the situation does not necessary negate the obligation of the local government [of Bangka Belitung] to push forward for a WPR establishment, since not all the local people can partner with PT Timah for their small-scale mining activity,” Bambang Herdiansyah asserted
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