"It is natural to cancel the license of a company if it failed to comply with the regulation," chairman of the faction of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) at the regional legislative assembly (DPRD) H Riswandi said.
The secretary of the Commission III of the DPRD said all mining companies are expected to comply with the regulation including on preservation of the environment.
"The regulations also concern the management of the environment such as reclamation not only to exploit the resources," he said.
A company is expected to contribute to the welfare of the people in general , he added.
"Therefore, the operating license of an irresponsible company should be revoked irrespective who is the owner of the company," he said.
Earlier acting head of the regional energy and mineral resources (ESDM)service Hanif Faisal Nurafiq said his office is studying recommendations calling for the revocation of the operating licenses of 336 mining companies in the province.
"We are processing calls for the revocation of 336 business licenses of mining companies to be submitted to the regional Capital Investment Agency," Hanif told reporters here.
In addition the South Kalimantan ESDM office imposes sanction on mining companies failing to pay reclamation fund and taxes, Hanif said.
Nine districts in the province have mineral resources mainly coal . The districts having coal reserves in South Kalimantan include Kotabaru, Tanah Bumbu (Tanbu), Tanah Laut (Tala), Banjar, Tapin, HSS, HST, Balangan and Tabalong.
The coal deposits at the HST district, however, has remained untapped until now.
Other district areas including the city of Banjarmasin, and regencies of Banjarbaru, Hulu Sungai Utara (HSU) and Barito Kuala (Batola) have no known mineral resources.
T.SYS/H-ASG/F001
Editor: Ida Nurcahyani
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
