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Mining in Indonesian Protected Areas - 2004 summary
Community organisations clashed against money politics over the hotly contested issue of open cut mining in Indonesian protected areas during 2004. The result was a surprise ratification (with a narrow majority) by parliament of an emergency presidential decree enabling 13 mining companies including Australian-based Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Newcrest Mining to proceed with mines in Indonesian protected forests.
The Coalition Against Mining in Protected Areas brought together ten NGOs including Mineral Policy Institute, our close partner organizations WALHI and JATAM, but also the Indonesian Center for Environment Law and larger national and international conservation organisations WWF Indonesia, Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (Kehati), PELANGI and others.
At stake in the parliamentary deliberations were dozens of mining leases, some granted by the corrupt Soeharto regime over protected areas including nature reserves, national parks and protected forests and leases in areas later given protected status.
Deforestation in Indonesia has reached 2.4 million hectares per year, and only a very small proportion of the nation enjoys protected status, hence the importance of defending these areas from open pit mining. In early 2004, then Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued an emergency decree to circumvent the ban on open cut mining contained in the Forestry Act of 1999.
However, this type of presidential decree in Indonesia must only be issued in times when national security is threatened. Misuse of such a decree would erode Indonesia’s legal system while making it clear that the mining industries’ interests are placed ahead of the public’s interests and environmental conservation.
Emergency presidential decrees are subject to ratification or veto at the ensuing parliamentary sitting, so the issue was eventually returned to parliament, where the majority of political parties agreed to support environmental protection laws and veto the decree. However, in a dramatic turn of events, half-way through the day in parliament, a crucial number of MP’s returned from a long recess and revealed that they had changed their voting intentions to support mining in protected areas. The day after the presidential decree passed by a narrow margin, a cross-party group entitled "Parliamentarians against corruption" held a press conference to condemn corruption in the voting process, testifying that several of their number had been offered substantial cash bribes to change their votes in favour of the mining companies.
For more information, please contact:
Igor O'Neill
Workphone: +62 21 794 1672
Mobile: +62 81 286 12 286
Created: 08 Dec 2004 | Last updated: 08 Dec 2004
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