TAMBANG, July 19, 2012 | 05.06
THE PATHWAY OF SOLUTIONS FOR MINING ISSUES

By: Jana S. Edam


It was close to midnight at the headquarters of TAMBANG Magazine when, amidst the height of the preparation works for the biennial event on the upcoming day, there was a call from the office of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM in its Indonesian abbreviation). It was immediately known that Mr. Jero Wacik, the ESDM Minister who was scheduled to officially open the event would not be able to be present on-time at the event’s venue as initially planned.
Mr. Wacik’s was said to be required to attend other occasion at the same time as the IMU 2012’s opening ceremony. His office then requested that the ceremony be deferred to a later time to cater for the Minister’s late arrival and keynote speech. The latest development had unsurprisingly alarmed the organizing committee. A special meeting was held to discuss necessary arrangements. The crew was forced to make some late-hour phone calls to other speakers and high-rank government officials, informing some changes to the initial parts of the IMU 2012 in the next morning. Finally, at approximately 02:30 in the wee hours, the dust has settled.
The organization of this year’s Indonesia Mining Updates was fully taken care of by the crew of TAMBANG Magazine. “We do everything on our own. We rely heavily on our team work and hard work to bring the event to success,” said Atep Abdurrofiq, the magazine’s director who co-chaired the event’s organizing committee. Even with the experience of organizing the first and second editions of the event in 2008 and 2010, respectively, the arrangement of this year’s event was not an easy feat. The crew had to simultaneously prepare the publication of the magazine’s special edition for the 18th Coaltrans Asia, an annual event on coal mining and trade held in Bali on 4-6 June 2012.
Not unlike similar events which incorporate seminar, gala dinner and awards- presentation, the organization of IMU 2012 also involved hectic coordination among the members of the organizing committee. They must ensure that every detail of works related to the preparations was properly heeded, such as making certain of guest speakers’ timely presence at the venue, welcoming the participants of the seminar who promptly filled the meeting rooms, or preparing the sequence of the awards-presentation in a glamorous manner.
When the D-day came in the morning of 30 May 2012, the Indonesian national anthem was played, highlighting the opening of the seminar. Pramono Anung Wibowo, Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) delivered the opening remarks.
Before he came into politics, Mr. Wibowo plied his trade in the coal business. In his speech, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) graduate provided his insight on the DPR’s positions in support of the energy and mineral resources sector in Indonesia. He took the opportunity to commend the works of Mr. Jero Wacik as the ESDM Minister for the last seven months. “Communication is key,” the politician of the PDI-P party stated, before praising Mr. Wacik’s efforts to maintain good communication with the parliament, resulting in effective consultations with the DPR on energy and mining issues.
Suryo Bambang Sulisto, Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) was next to deliver his remarks. He also officially opened this year’s seminar, which was themed “Towards a Sustainable Mineral Resources Management in Indonesia: Challenges and Opportunities”.
Among the notable speakers in the seminar’s first session were Prof. Dr. Emil Salim, economist and former Minister of Environment; Dr. Simon Sembiring, former Director General for Mineral and Coal at the ESDM Ministry; Prof. Dr. Sri Edi Swasono, economist of the University of Indonesia; and Suryo Bambang Sulisto, the KADIN Chairman. The first session was mainly accentuated on the contribution of the mining sector to the national economy.
In the middle of the session, the audience rose to their feet and gave a round of applause for the arrival of Minister Jero Wacik, who subsequently presented his keynote speech on the government’s policy towards the mining sector. He addressed the audience with the explanation on four development pillars in the context of mining, namely pro-growth, pro-work opportunity, pro-poverty reduction and pro-environment.
According to Mr. Wacik, the government will strive to support investment in the mining sector in order to boost the economic growth. The mining industry has played a very important role in sustaining the country’s economy with a contribution totaling approximately 30 percent of the nation’s total budget.
The government’s policy in the sector is only meant to increase the sector’s contribution to the national development, as well as to ensure that all conducts are accorded to good mining practices. “It would be a sin if I have the intention to put mining companies into bankruptcy. Regulations are introduced to bring the mining governance into a more orderly and better condition” he stated.
On the recent announcement by the government to levy a 20 percent tax on the export of mineral products, Mr. Wacik offered a clarification that the move was meant to increase added value of mining by strengthening downstream industries, which at the same time is also aimed at increasing job opportunities for the workforce.
He added that promoting the increase of added value in the mining industry is among the government’s priorities. Processing mineral products domestically will eventually move the price of the products up in the international market and utilize the available workforce.
Mr. Wacik who has spent 18 years working at United Tractors, the supplier of heavy equipments for the mining industry, stated that he knows the conditions of societies at mining areas all too well. “There are still poverties at villages located in mining areas,” he said. He requested mining companies to put greater attention on such problems through the intensification of community development and corporate social responsibility programs. “Financing more CD and CSR programs will not make your company poor. On the contrary, it would promote better partnerships with these societies,” he added.
The Minister also drew the audience’ attention to the issue of environment. He stated that mining activities are always to blame when the environment at the surrounding area is damaged. He therefore called upon the mining companies to help protect the environment and revive former mining areas through reforestation and reclamation efforts.
After the conclusion of the Minister’s speech, the seminar was reconvened with further topics for discussion, particularly on the renegotiation of mining contracts; the challenges and opportunities in the mining investment in Indonesia; and the breakthrough in the government’s bureaucracy for optimization of mining management in Indonesia.
Notable names from the country’s mining sector were present as guest speakers, such as Dr. Thamrin Sihite, Director General for Mineral and Coal of the ESDM Ministry; Dr. Rozik B. Soetjipto, CEO of PT. Freeport Indonesia; Prof. Dr. Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesia; Marwan Batubara of IRESS; Sudiarso Prasetio, CEO of PT. Pamapersada Nusantara; Jeffry Mulyono, senior practitioner in the mining industry; Peter Albert, CEO of Agincourt; Dr. Eko Prasojo of the Ministry for Administrative and Bureaucracy Reform; and Dr. Dhohermansyah Djohan, Director General for Regional Autonomy of the Interior Ministry.
On 31 May 2012, the second day of the seminar was opened with a speech by Mr. Mohamad Hidayat, Minister of Industry. In his remarks, he noted that the national bank sector could support the development of the smelting industry in Indonesia. “In countries with strong smelting industry, the banking sector helps provide direct funding for investment,” confirmed the Minister. He stated further that developing the smelting industry here is of utmost importance, especially when the planned export restriction of raw materials in 2014 comes into minds. Financing has so far been the greatest obstacle in the development of smelters. Therefore, Mr. Hidayat hoped that state-owned national banks could also be involved in the investment to develop the facilities.
The Minister’s opening speech was followed by a discussion on the topic of “Investment Challenges and Opportunities in Downstream Industry from the Mining Sector”. Among the speakers were Dede Suhendra of the ESDM Ministry; Wachid Usman, a tin expert formerly the CEO of PT Timah, Tbk; Dr. Arif Siregar, a metallurgy expert, and Nico Kanter, CEO of PT Vale Indonesia. The session was hosted by Iwan Qodar Himawan of TAMBANG Magazine.
The topic of discussion in the next session was on the implementation of the government’s policy to secure the Domestic Market Obligations (DMO). Hosted by Uni Lubis, Editor-in-Chief of ANTV, speakers in this session were representatives of coal mining companies PT. Adaro Energy, Tbk. and PT Bukit Asam, Tbk., high rank officials of PLN, the national electricity company, and Singgih Widagdo of the Indonesian Coal Society (ICS).
Ultimately, the two-days seminar had drawn the attentions to the pathways of solutions for issues commonly faced in the coal mining industry. Although the two-days duration was far from sufficient to disclose all problems and issues surrounding the country’s mining sector, in any case there were positive points to initiate the solutions, which eventually will require continuous dialogues between all parties involved in the country’s mining sector.

Gala Dinner and Presentation of TAMBANG Awards
The dynamic beats of Papuan and Sundanese drums performances in two different occassions were among the highlights of a glitzy gala dinner commemorating the conclusion of the Indonesia Mining Updates 2012. An orchestra-style big band was also among the performers, providing a background music during a coreographed awards presentation that night.
One at a time names of nominees and eventual winners were called out by representatives of mining companies who presented the announcement in pairs. There were ten categories altogether under the scrutiny of a team of judges. Dr. Witoro Soelarno, former Secretary to the Director General of Mineral and Coal of the ESDM Ministry, headed the committee of judges. Before the awards presentation, he addressed the audience on the categories being awarded, the criteria for nomination and the requirements needed to win an award. He also introduced the members of the committee of judges: a host of experts and practitioners in the national mining sector whose backgrounds ranged from mining associations to ESDM Ministry to journalists.
Among this year’s edition of the TAMBANG Award were the categories of “Best Local Government in Mining Management” and “Best Public Company in Mining Industry”. However, the category of best publicly listed company was later annuled as it was deemed as out of the judges’ domain to assess. It also came as a little surprise that there was no winner for the category of best local government. Minister Jero Wacik was quoted as saying that the committee of judges had objectively performed their duty based on existing facts and evidences.
Mr. Wacik who were among the dignitaries handing the awards over to eventual winners of the night stated that the winners should thrive to maintain their performances and keep their operations within the good mining practices. He invited those who had not won the award to up their antes in a bid to win it in the future. Mr. Wacik also reiterated the government’s desire to support the mining sector and to encourage companies to always comply to good mining practices, among other through the implementation of the four development pillars of the mining sector.