Commission XII: Rise Of Illegal Gold Mining In West Kalimantan And Alleged Backing Of Officials

ILLUSTRATION OF UNSPLASH/Tatenda Mapigoti

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission XII DPR RI Bambang Haryadi highlighted the rise of illegal gold mining in the country. He even expressed his disappointment over the acquittal against gold mining actors in West Kalimantan.

In fact, he said, the value of state losses for this practice was quite large. Worse, the perpetrator, who was originally only demanded a light sentence, was actually sentenced to be free from the panel of judges.

"In these weeks there have been many surprises, there is also a free sentence for illegal gold miners in West Kalimantan whose value is quite large. They have been prosecuted lightly and then released," Bambang said at a press conference at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Tuesday, February 4.

Bambang suspects that there is a collusion in the investigation process to the verdict against the perpetrators of illegal gold mining. Moreover, Commission XII of the DPR has received information that the perpetrators are 'protected' by law enforcement officers.

"We suspect that this is a kind of conspiracy from the side of the demands and from the side of the investigation to the verdict, we also received many reports at the secretariat, this is related to allegations that illegal gold is increasingly rife in West Kalimantan, even the issue is backed up by law enforcement officials," he said.

For this reason, the legislator from the Gerindra Party faction stated that his party through the working committee (Panja) would investigate reports of intensively supporting illegal miners. Bambang even encouraged law enforcement agencies from both the TNI, Polri, and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to go directly to the location to check the issue of illegal miners' protections in West Kalimantan.

"With the rise in West Kalimantan, it means that there is potential in that direction, and we, Panja Illegal Mining, together with the Ministry of Environment, will also go to the field to review in more detail," he said.

Finally, he reminded that the acquittal of illegal mining actors in West Kalimantan injures the positive trend of President Prabowo Subianto's administration. Thus, Bambang hopes that law enforcers will not take illegal mining lightly.

"Essentially, this acquittal is a bad gift for the government in the future, we hope that the government will be serious about illegal mining cases in West Kalimantan," he said.

The same thing was conveyed by Deputy Chairman of Commission XII Sugeng Suparwoto. He said the acquittal against illegal miners in West Kalimantan should be a serious concern of the government.

"The rise of illegal mining in West Kalimantan was specifically a huge loss to the state and it turns out that with a free sentence, it is clear that we know without accusing anyone but from the results of our investigation, a provisional report that this is backed up by law enforcement agencies that require follow-up," said Sugeng.

The legislator from the NasDem Party faction emphasized that his commission was very concerned about the illegal mining case. He even called the acquittal against illegal mining actors tarnishing the credibility of law enforcement.

"Illegal gold mining is approximately IDR 1 trillion in state losses and it is still being acquitted, imagine how much the state lost, especially since it is the credibility of law enforcement being questioned. We also convey that in front of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (Bahlil Lahadalia) so that it requires serious attention," he said.

He said that from now on Commission XII will routinely conduct discussions related to strategic issues, both about oil and gas, energy, investment and the environment. This discussion aims to monitor illegal mining cases that harm the lives of many people.

"Once again, we will carefully monitor the governance of mining in Commission XII. Because this goods are not renewed, goods are limited so there must be careful management," he said.