There Are Persons Suspected Of Selling Illegal Coal, Haris Azhar Asks For Legal Process

JAKARTA - A number of coal entrepreneurs are making profits because the price of black gold has recorded the highest price since the first HBA was recorded. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has set the reference coal price (HBA) in June 2022 at US$323.91 per ton.

This figure rose 17 percent or increased 48.27 US dollars per tonne compared to the previous month's price. However, with strict supervision from the authorities, illegal mining is believed to be increasingly mushrooming, and even coal business disputes are rife and the victims are always investors.

Haris Azhar, a lawyer and human rights activist, agrees. He admitted that many parties came to him for almost the same problem. One of the things he handled was the alleged embezzlement of coal by the company PT Batubara Lahat (PT BL), South Sumatra.

"They sell coal according to the agreement that should belong to my client's company," Haris said in his statement to reporters on Friday, July 22.

Haris Azhar further explained that this kind of mode is becoming very common considering the price is soaring sharply.

"In the end, investors will suffer. Next time, no one will want to invest in the coal business," he explained.

"And therefore we will only proceed legally, considering that mediation seems to always be a dead end, they don't even respect the summons we send," said Haris Azhar.