Bahlil remembers the beginning of the imposition of a ban on the export of nickel ore, from demo to more than a month

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia. (Photo: VOI Doc)

JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia again recalled the story behind the beginning of the policy banning the export of nickel ore which became the foundation of the mineral downstream program in Indonesia.

Bahlil said that the incident began shortly after he was inaugurated as Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) on October 23, 2019.

Four days after the inauguration, he admitted that he received direct instructions from President Joko Widodo together with the then Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, to stop nickel ore exports.

According to him, the order made him confused because the authority to prohibit mineral exports was under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, not the BKPM.

"I think, who has the authority to prohibit the export of nickel ore is the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, not the Head of BKPM," said Bahlil in his remarks at the Launch and Book Surgery of 10 Real Works for the Half-Century State Bahlil Lahadalia in Jakarta, Friday, August 7.

Facing this situation, he admitted that he then consulted with the Minister of State Secretary, who was then held by Pratikno, to find a legal basis that would allow BKPM to take this step.

However, the answer he received was that he should find a way out himself.

Armed with the direction, he then gathered all nickel mining and exporting business actors in a meeting.

"As the courage of the Papuans, it cannot be small in the eyes of great teachers. Then I called all nickel entrepreneurs, mining industry, exporters, then we met and we decided: Starting November 1, there should be no more prohibitions on nickel ore exports," said Bahlil.

The decision, said Bahlil, was taken without the decision of the minister and only based on the results of a meeting led by the Head of BKPM.

Bahlil said that the policy triggered rejection from various parties. He admitted that he faced a demonstration for about one and a half months as an impact of the implementation of the export ban.

"And at that time we were beaten by the demo for one and a half months," said Bahlil.