Clarification of Illegal Mining Allegations, Legal Representative of PT HAM Soroti Dirjen Gakum Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources

JAKARTA - The Legal Team of PT. Harmoni Alam Manise (PT HAM) Robert B Keytimu said that efforts to fight illegal mining were the attitude taken by his client as long as he had not completed all related permits for people's mining on Buru Namlea Island.

According to Robert, the team from the Directorate General of Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (Gakkum Team) arrested and detained 12 foreigners and one employee, and also arrested the President Director of PT Harmoni Alam Manise (PT HAM) and the President Director of PT Wanshuai Indo Mining (PT WIM) with the accusation of having carried out mining activities without permission (PETI) in the People's Mining Area (WPR) Gunung Botak, Buru Regency, Maluku, as provided for in Article 158 of Law Number 3 of 2020 concerning Minerba, is not based on facts and not in accordance with the law.

"The actions of the team from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Gakum are not based on facts and are not in accordance with the law," said Robert in a written statement, Monday, June 29.

Robet said PT. HAM and PT. WIM did not carry out mining activities as alleged by the Director General of Gakum of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia as stated in Article 158 of the Mining Law.

"We need to explain that first, PT. WIM is a party that has a position in the agreement as a party that provides financing support and has transportation and sales permits and cooperates with PT HAM and the Cooperative in carrying out and preparing various processes of preparation for the production of people's mines in the IPR area of the Cooperative," he said.

Second, PT. HAM is a party in an agreement with the cooperative acting as a party that will process and refine the results of the production of the cooperative holder of the IPR license and for this reason both companies have licenses and carry out all procedures regulated and determined by applicable laws.

Third, the base camp of PT.HAM, it was not built in the WIUPR area or the coordinates determined based on the decision of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, and so is in the IPR area of the Cooperative which cooperates with PT.HAM, there is no mining activity in this case, production which is officially carried out by PT. HAM.

The camp built by PT HAM is outside the coordinate area and the distance is approximately 1 KM, from the coordinates.

According to Robert, the camp that was built was a preparation for infrastructure to carry out gold seed processing and purification activities if production is carried out by the Cooperative of IPR holders.

Therefore, according to Robert, PT HAM built a road to the location, opened several ponds for processing and processing.

"The location that was opened did not contain gold ore, besides that it was not a coordinate area. We officially rented the land of the local residents to be used as a camp," said Robert B Keytimu.

Regarding the 12 foreigners who are suspects and detained, Robert explained that they entered Indonesia using official channels as provided for in the Immigration Law and according to the Immigration Certificate dated June 24, 2026.

The presence of the 12 foreign nationals was explained not to be in violation of the immigration law, meaning that the presence of the 12 foreign nationals was in the Maluku region, namely the official route, and they were brought by PT HAM to become professional workers who would examine the potential content in the IPR cooperative area in which they were cooperating, and help build LAB and other infrastructure at the Camp which will be the place for processing and refining the production of the cooperative IPR holders.

On this basis, Robert as the lawyer for PT HAM said that the action of the Director General of Gakum Jefri Huwae was not based on the principles of prudence and applicable laws.

Another thing that is tricky is that the Director General of Gakum ESDM RI makes a determination of the suspect and immediately carries out detention without a title of the case, asks for clarification, where the authority and position of the Director General of Gakum in this case is very biased against the principles of criminal procedure law.

He said the Director General of Gakum in this case is a regulator and has a more function in carrying out discipline and settlement, prioritizing administrative approaches and guidance, especially to parties who invest well and obey the law in Indonesia so as not to make investors afraid and run away.

Robert believes that the Director General of the ESDM Gakum has taken steps in relation to the directors of PT.HAM and PT WIM, which are legally flawed both formally and materially and do not comply with the applicable rules of criminal procedure.

In order to curb illegal mining, he asked the Director General of Gakum to carry out the law honestly and in accordance with the principles of law enforcement without discrimination.

"Don't let illegal miners work on one side and blindly prosecute the mine permit owners. We have a number of information that we will delve into the facts about what really happened. We are also preparing legal steps in terms of facing the accusations of the Director General of Gakum on PT. HAM," said Robert.