Babel Local Government Confesses Unabsorbed People's Mining Production, President Director Of PT Timah Questions Legality

JAKARTA - The Bangka Belitung Provincial Government is facing Commission VII DPR RI and complains about the decline in the economy of the people which has decreased due to unabsorbed production of people's mines.

Acting Governor of Bangka Belitung, Safrizal Zakaria Ali said, the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal has indeed determined several People's Mining Areas (WPR) but his party still finds obstacles related to WPR processing documents and the environment.

"Frankly, psychologically we at the local government want it to be fast because we see an extraordinary decline in exports falling sharply. Even in January it was 0 exports. Also, the economy of the people is now corrected so deeply that this needs to be encouraged," said Safrizal, quoted on Wednesday, March 27.

Present on the same occasion, East Belitung Regent Burhanudin said the economic condition of the people he leads is like a dead city. Because the wheels of the economy do not move because the mining community who previously lived from the people's mines did not move due to a decrease in purchasing power. For this reason, he offers a short-term solution is to ask for existing tin mines to accommodate lead resulting from people's mining.

However, he admitted that there were still obstacles because PT Timah only accommodated tin which was in the Mining Business Permit area.

"PT Timah only accommodates tin in IUT and even then it is very limited. However, the people screamed because our area was quite wide. PT Timah's IUP is very wide on land and sea, but the current condition of the people is screaming because they cannot sell tin," explained Burhanudin.

Responding to the complaint, the President Director of Timah, Ahmad Dani Virsal admitted that his company could not immediately absorb all WPR productions that were not in the IUP of PT Timah.

"If it wasn't from the PT Timah IUP, we couldn't have accommodated it. Where did it come from?" Ahmad said when met at the DPR complex.

Ahmad said that actually the capacity of the factory owned by PT Timah was not a problem, but his party took issue with the legality of tin ore produced from WPR.

"If the IPR is issued, the IPR may continue to cooperate, but if it's not there, it can't be done for us, what kind of illegal society, we can't whiten it, right?" continued Ahmad.

Regarding the possibility of expanding the IUP, according to Ahmad, this is difficult because it will take a long time and a difficult process.

"One of those expanded IUPs is complicated. What we have is difficult for us. Everyone wants to be safe, how we believe that our safe society is also safe, not only now but in the next 10 years. Legality first," concluded Ahmad.