Regarding The Allegation That 5 Million Tons Of Ore Nickel Were Exported Illegally To China, The Coordinating Minister For Maritime Affairs And Fisheries Said This

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (photo: Instagram @luhut.pandjaitan)

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has investigated allegations of illegal nickel ore exports from January 2020 to June 2022. This mining product was sent from Indonesia to China.

In fact, the government has set a ban on exports of several mining commodities, one of which is nickel ore since January 1, 2020. The prohibition is contained in the Regulation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 11 of 2019.

Responding to this, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan admitted that he had not received this information from the KPK. However, he emphasized that he would check the truth of this.

"It's good if you find it, we'll find someone who imports it," said Luhut when met by the media crew at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Building, quoted on Saturday, June 24.

Luhut said, related to this, illegal exporters of nickel ore minerals will be punished in accordance with applicable regulations and articles. "If anything, it can be punished," concluded Luhut.

Previously, the Head of the Coordination and Supervision Task Force for Region V KPK, Dian Patria, said that five million tons of illegal nickel ore were sent to China based on his studies. However, Dian said the data on the customs site did not include detailed information about the area of origin of exports.

"It should have come from the granary of the Sulawesi and North Maluku nickel ore," he said. Furthermore, the results of the task force study are already in the Monitoring Directorate under the Deputy for Monitoring and Prevention of the KPK. These findings will be followed up to produce recommendations for the next step