Ministry Cannot Say When Coal Limitation Rule Can Start

May 22, 2018, 1:06 pm | Admin

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry cannot give an exact time of when the policy to limit coal production can commence. The limitation is stipulated in the Energy Minister`s Regulation No.25/2018 on Coal and Mineral Mining Businesses that was recently issued.

"There are things that need to be considered first. We will just have to wait," the ministry's director general of coal and mineral Bambang Gatot Ariyono told Tempo on Monday, May 21.

The rule stipulates that the Energy Minister may control coal production volume and other mineral commodities as long as the intention adheres to aspects of environment and natural resource conservation.

Production volume can then be limited after a discussion between the minister as well as other ministries and the regional government.

However, the regulation does not govern the technicality of production control. Bambang said that matter will be regulated in another rule.

Since 2015, the Energy Ministry has repeatedly failed to limit coal production. Last year, Indonesia's coal production reached 467 million tons, far above the 413-tons maximum volume set in the 2015-2019 Mid-term National Development Plan.

This year, production volume is expected to reach 477 million tonnes, much higher than the planned 406 million tons.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Coal Mining Association (APBI) executive director Hendra Sinadia rejected the rule, saying it will hurt the coal industry that had just rebounded from 2014's price collapse. He said that this will eventually erode the state's non-tax revenue.

https://en.tempo.co/read/news/2018/05/22/056918656/Ministry-Cannot-Say-When-Coal-Limitation-Rule-Can-Start

Last modified on May 24, 2018, 1:08 pm | 2774