The DPR Passed A Flood Of Criticism To Bring The Minerba Bill To The Plenary Session

Photo illustration (Mery Handayani / VOI)

JAKARTA - The House of Representatives (DPR) and the government have agreed to revise Law Number 4 of 2009 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining (Minerba) to be brought to the second level discussion at the plenary session.

Deputy Chairperson of Commission VII Eddy Soeparno, as chairperson of the meeting, said that of the nine factions that expressed their views, there was one faction that rejected it, namely the Democratic Party Faction. Others, one faction attracted their views: the PKS faction.

"Do you agree to discuss up to level two? Agree?" asked Eddy at the Commission VII working meeting with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Monday, May 11.

"Agree,"

answered all members of Commission VII who were present

Eddy said, because the PKS faction withdrew its view, so that it would return to give its views on the Minerba Bill. "So it will be given the opportunity for PKS to convey its views tomorrow," he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tarif, said that the decision was made based on an agreement after the government and the DPR had sufficiently deep discussions. In total there will be 143 articles amended from the 217 articles listed in Law Number 4 of 2009.

The 143 articles, said Arifin, consist of 51 added articles, 83 amended articles, and nine articles deleted.

"The government wants to optimize the existing natural resources for the welfare of society and the progress of the nation. We hope that it can drive the government to continue its mission as mandated by the law," said Arifin.

According to Arifin, the deliberation process for the Minerba Bill has been quite long and detailed. "Hopefully it will be easier (at the plenary meeting)," he said.

After that, the meeting was closed by signing the Minerba Bill draft before proceeding to level II talks. "Next, we invite representatives of each faction and government representatives to sign the draft bill," said Eddy.

For your information, the working meeting between Commission VII and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Arifin Tasrif along with several representatives from other ministries discussed the Minerba Bill lasted more than seven hours. The meeting which started at 10.00 WIB was concluded at 17.38 WIB.

It is recorded that only the Democrats have refused to continue the discussion on the Minerba Bill to the plenary session. Meanwhile, the majority of the other factions agreed that this bill would be brought to the plenary session for decisions at level II.

Member of the House of Representatives Commission VII of the Democratic Faction, Sartono Hutomo, said that the discussion of the Minerba Bill needs to be postponed due to the country's unfavorable condition due to the corona virus pandemic or COVID-19.

According to him, the DPR and the government should have discussed the handling of this virus, which is also part of the duties of Commission VII.

"Considering the current conditions, when a precarious country and society are suffering from COVID-19, it is not right for the Indonesian Parliament to discuss other matters beyond the handling of COVID-19," he said, during a working meeting of Commission VII with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. virtual, Monday, May 11.

From the start, said Sartono, the Democrats had indeed expressed their disapproval of the continued discussion of this bill until the emergency response period for COVID-19 ended.

"From the start, PD has been consistent in not taking part in discussions because this pandemic needs extra attention. So, we focus on helping the people because there is a lot of lack here and there in handling," he said.

For your information, the Minerba Bill is included in one of the draft laws which received massive protests in a student action in September 2009 because it was considered too defending the interests of the coal tycoon. Not only students, a number of experts also considered that there was no urgency to pass this bill. Moreover, this nation still has to go through a pandemic condition.