Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Egi Primayogha suspects that the practice of state highjacking or state capture has occurred through the revisions to Law Number 4/2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining (UU Minerba). The draft law was enacted into law by the House of Representatives (DPR) on Tuesday.
“The DPR and the government have harmed the interests of many people, I suspect there was state capture corruption or the highjacking of the state and this cannot be allowed”, said Primayogha during a discussion on Wednesday May 13.
Primayogha said he regrets that the government and the DPR had rushed through the revisions to the law in the midst of the corona virus (Covid-19) pandemic. According to Primayogha, the deliberations on the law were not transparent and there was no involvement by the communities which will be impacted upon by mining activities.
He also suspects that the revision process was rushed because of the presence of coal mining company owners who pressured the DPR. The motive being that there are a number of companies whose work activity and coal mining agreements (PKP2B) will soon expire.
“We suspect that the rich elite which have interests in the coal business were driving it all”, he said.
Speaking in the same vein, Greenpeace Indonesia climate and energy campaign spokesperson Hindun Mulaika said that the interests of the oligarchy or elite groups were behind the enactment of the revisions to the Minerba law in the midst of the corona pandemic.
Mulaika said that the revised law will benefit seven companies which are owned by people in the inner circles of power. According to Mulaika, these companies are currently working hard to obtain guarantees for debt refinancing.
“So the interests of the oligarchy were behind or underlying the RUU Minerba being ratified”, he said.
Earlier, the DPR and the government ratified the draft law on revisions to Law Number 4/2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining at a plenary meeting held on Tuesday May 12. (khr/fra)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “ICW: Terjadi Pembajakan Negara Lewat Revisi UU Minerba”.]
