JAKARTA. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs will relax the procedure of the extension of mining license.
In this case, the government will revise the Government Regulation No 77/2014 on the Third Amendment on Government Regulation No 23/2010 on the Mineral and Coal Minings Business. In other words, the time frame for submitting the proposal for an extension of mining contract will be revised, from two years to five years before the contract maturity.
Actually, the previous Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said had suggested the revision. However, it was cancelled due to the wide criticism.
A source revealed that the draft of the revision of the Government Regulation No 77/2014, as well as the draft of the revision of the Government Regulation No 01/2014 on the incentive of mineral exports will be discussed on 12 January 2017.
“The revisions will be discussed at the office of Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs. The Government Regulation No 77/2014 has been revised thrice so that this will be the fourth,” said the source, Sunday (27/11).
The source said that the fourth revision aims at improving domestic investment climate. Because, the previous time frame for submitting the contract revision in two years prior to the contract maturity will complicate the business plan of the investors, mainly those that invest billions US dollar. However, the source refused to reveal whether the fourth revision draft has been submitted to State Secretariat.
The source only mentioned that the State Secretariat, Coordinating Ministry of Economy Affairs, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, and Ministry of Industry attended the coordination meeting at the Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs office on Friday (25/11).
Meanwhile, Director General of Mineral and Coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Bambang Gatot Ariyono said that the draft of the revision on the Government Regulation No 77/2014 is still being revised by Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs.
He also refused to confirm whether the draft of the revision has been submitted to the State Secretariat. “I do not know. It’s still being reviewed by the Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs,” he said.
Meanwhile, Head of Cooperation and Public Information Communication Services at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Sujatmiko said tha the ministry will explain the revision of Government Regulation No 77/2015 to public, media, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders.
The government’s plan to relax the regulation on the time frame of the extension of mining contract was responded in a positive manner by the Chairman of Indonesia Mining Institute (IMI), Irwandy Arif. According to Irwandy, the extension the time frame for extending the mining license will facilitate investors in making business plan. This will provide certainty for the investors, as some mining companies have to arrange many things, including the capital arrangement, before deciding their business.
“Mining companies need to have an accurate planning. This is the basic principle of the mining companies,” Irwandy told KONTAN on Sunday (27/11).
(Muhammad Farid/Translator)
