The President has asked me to inform the concerned offices regarding ways to overcome the situation."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia plans to review its coal and mineral mining Law Number 4 of 2009, which has triggered restlessness in the country.
In this regard, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono invited former justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra to his office on Tuesday.
"The President has asked me to inform the concerned offices regarding ways to overcome the situation. Hopefully, it can be overcome by relaxing the regulation a bit, so that bigger losses can be avoided for the country, in terms of state income as well as companies income." stated Yusril after the meeting.
With reference to several companies that are in the process of setting up smelting plants, he noted that if these projects are stopped, then stagnation will set in, thus resulting in bad credits, increased unemployment, and construction materials at the project sites going waste."
In a meeting that lasted for around an hour, Yusril admitted that he had accepted the task.
"The January 12, 2014, deadline is very near and I have accepted the task assigned by the President and it must be done immediately," he emphasized.
Based on the law, effective January 12, 2014, mining companies operating in Indonesia are required to process their mining materials in the country. This means that they will no longer be allowed to export raw mining materials.
Although the companies were given time to prepare the plants since 2009, yet some of them have requested to postpone the implementation of the law until the next few years.
(Reporting by GNC Aryani/Uu.H-YH/INE/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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