Here's The Attitude Of The Presidential And Vice Presidential Candidates Regarding The Restriction Of The Nickel Smelter Permit

Smelter illustration (photo: between)

JAKARTA - Each pair of candidates for president and vice president of the Republic of Indonesia in 2024-2029 has taken a stand regarding plans to limit nickel smelter or moratorium permits. It is known that currently the government will limit the construction of a class II mineral refining plant (smelter).

A balance between the supply and the need for nickel ore is needed so as not to make Indonesia an importer of nickel ore. This moratorium essence is intended so that the smelter that has been built still gets a supply of nickel ore for the sustainability of production operations.

In terms of restrictions on smelters, candidate pair number 02 and 03 approved the policy. Spokesperson for the Prabowo and Gibran pair, Eddy Soeparno said that if elected, Prabowo and Gibran would continue the policy by improving the permit originally issued by the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, but at any time it could be revoked by the Ministry of Investment.

In fact, he said, those who know for sure the content of nickel reserves and potential resources are the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as the Ministry of Engineering. According to him, the Ministry of Industry should not issue continuous permits that can erode nickel reserves in a short time.

"While the unmoratorized permit will only take 15 years, our nickel has expired within 10-15 years. 10 years of nickel with the top 1.7 percent and 15 years of nickel under 1.5 percent will run out when we only have the technology to make batteries," he said, quoted Wednesday, January 10.

If Prabowo is elected as president later, Eddy ensures that granting and revocation of permits will only be under the authority of one ministry so that there will be no overlap between one ministry and another.

In line with Paslon number 02, Spokesperson for Ganjar and Mahfud, Edi Sutrisno said his party had 3 important points related to this matter.

First, Edi said Ganjar-Mahfud wanted to create a local economic ecosystem. Moreover, Indonesia is still not a major player. Second, if elected in the future, he said, Ganjar and Mahfud would make improvements in related ministries such as audits and law enforcement.

"Do not let licensing be without an audit at the beginning, nor do licensing not be reviewed, and we know where many permits are issued, that's why Pak Mahfud said we were 'hit' by the corruption," said Edi.

Third, Edi also emphasized the attitude of Ganjar and Mahfud who approved the moratorium with the awareness that nickel resources have limitations even though Indonesia is the largest producing country in the world.

"For that we will moratorium smelters. We will confirm the smelter moratorium. For what? For the acceleration of derivative industries, so that the new derivative industry is not built, the core has run out, we don't want that! This will be a concern for Pak Ganjar and Pak Mahfud," he continued.

Meanwhile, Anies and Cak Imin's spokesperson for the pair, Irvan Pulungan, said that from thepad he took an agreement and disagreed, his party would first conduct a comprehensive evaluation of natural resources and problems in the operation of smelters such as the explosion that occurred recently.

"We are committed to evaluating the operation of these smelters and then making decisions whether to be moratorium or what," said Irvan briefly.