The Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) is concerned that the proposal for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to manage mining could be exploited by large corporations. This could happen if the government does not establish specific criteria."We are concerned that business actors might generate companies or their businesses under the SME category to manage mining," said Andry Satrio Nugroho, Head of the Industry, Trade, and Investment Center at Indef, when contacted by Tempo on Monday, January 27, 2025.Andry said this gap is open to business entities that claim to be SMEs. As a result, they could receive mining management rights that were originally not intended for them.For this reason, Andry suggests SMEs should form groups to create cooperatives. Through this scheme, they could collectively manage mining in the same area. According to him, this would be more feasible than managing the mining individually.Andry said that many small businesses have been involved in the mining sector illegally. With the involvement of SMEs in mining, he hopes small players can become legitimate.The idea for SMEs to manage mining was suggested by the Legislative Body (Baleg) of the House of Representatives. They plan to include provisions granting priority to SMEs for managing mining land with an area of less than 2,500 hectares. SMEs and universities followed public organizations, which were the first to receive mining business licenses.The Plenary Session of the House of Representatives at the Jakarta Parliament Complex on Thursday, January 23, 2025, approved the Draft Law (RUU) on the Fourth Amendment to Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mineral and coal Mining (Minerba) to become a bill initiated by the House of Representatives.However, the Fourth Amendment to the Mineral and coal Mining Bill is cumulatively open. This is because the Mineral and coal Mining Bill has been tested four times in the Constitutional Court (MK). Two of these tests were conditionally accepted by the MK.
Source https://djakarta-miningclub.com