The Ministry Of Energy And Mineral Resources Orders Hundreds Of Illegal Mine Hectares

Illegal mining (Photo: KESDM)

JAKARTA - Director General of Law Enforcement (Dirjen Gakkum) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Rilke Jeffri Huwae succeeded in controlling hundreds of hectares of mining land that operated without a loan permit using forest areas.

"In accordance with the direction of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, to realize good mining practices, we continue to strengthen supervision and prosecution of illegal mining practices," said Rilke, Monday, September 15.

From the results of the operation, he continued, the state managed to regain 321.07 hectares of mining land. In detail, 148.25 hectares are areas owned by PT Weda Bay Nickel in North Maluku, while the other 172.82 hectares belong to PT Tonia Mitra Sejahtera in Southeast Sulawesi.

"They have a mining permit, but they don't have a loan and use forest permit," explained Jeffri.

Jeffri added that the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources continues to encourage the implementation of Good Mining Practices (GMP), the mining concept that focuses on environmental responsibility, sustainability, and legal compliance.

"The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will continue to collaborate and take part proactively in any planning and action steps with the Halilintar Forest Area Control Task Force (PKH Task Force)," he said.

To note, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is part of the PKH Halilintar Task Force. The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources sat in the ranks of the Steering Team along with several other ministers, the TNI Commander, the Attorney General, the National Police Chief, and the Head of BPKP. Meanwhile, in the technical implementation structure, an important role was carried out by the Director General of Law Enforcement ESDM and the Director General of Mineral and Coal as active members.