Miners Lament Industry Hurdles to Jokowi
16 April 2015 11:12 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo met with a number of mining practitioners at the state palace on Wednesday, April 15. Some of the topics discussed were the problems miners keep encountering in the sector.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Sofyan Djalil, who was also at the meeting, said representatives from 20 mining companies--excluding Freeport and Newmont--lamented on some industry hurdles that are mostly related to taxes, land overlaps and licensing.
The government and miners agreed to find solutions together. The miners are scheduled to meet with a number of technical ministries including the Industry Ministry, the Trade Ministry and the Finance Ministry.
Despite their complaints about business hampers, the miners agreed to increase mining commodity value by building smelters. This, said Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs Indroyono Soesilo, must be appreciated.
Mulawarman, president director of PT Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk, said the president promised to find solutions to miners' complaints and asked them to increase export volume and value.
The miners, Mulawarman said, also requested for incentives like tax holidays.
FAIZ NASHRILLAH
