The presidential candidate Joko Widodo, lovingly referred to only as Jokowi, recently visited the official residence of South Kalimantan Governor, Ruddy Ariffin, reports Tambang Online.They talked about, among others, the need for renegotiation between central and local government on the distribution of mining royalties. He was given an explanations by Mr. Ariffin on the current mining situation in the administration area.
Renegotiation between the state and the people is essential in order to ensure that both are benefited. Jokowi stated that it was of interests that must be further synchronized,as the people in the local regions would have to bear the consequences of environmental damages due to mining activities.
“Mining activities everywhere have always been a problem. Not the mining itself, but (among others) the profit sharing of the royalty,” said Jokowi as quoted by Antara, last weekend.
Governor Ruddy Ariffin stated that ideally the profit sharing of mining would be 50:50 between the central and the local governments. However,as concurred by Jokowi, it was only 13.5% gained from royalties and the regions were allotted only 3% to be further divided between the provinces and the regencies. At present, in South Kalimantan alone there are 4.3 million people living in 13 regencies.
“If the sharing is that much, it would be too little. This is what has been often complained about in East Kalimantan,” added Jokowi. The former Mayor of Solo stated that the visits to the regions such as this one would greatly help him when advancing to become president. “Inputs such as these are what I need. I always want to know, want to hear. All of the issues, the more we know the better. This would also be important for the upcoming presidential debate on regional issues,” he said.
Meanwhile Mr. Ariffin expressed his hopes that the future president would be wiser in deciding the profit sharing (for the regions) from mining. From the beginning, he said, the sharing had not provided for a sense of justice, in addition to the obligation for rehabilitation and reclamation after the conclusion of mining activities.
“Out of the sharing of 13%, three percent would be given to the regions. The 10% (to the central government) for rehabilitation.However, the central government had never done (rehabilitation efforts). Currently, rehabilitation is carried out by the businesses,” added Mr. Ariffin. In addition to royalty, improvements of infrastructure in the province was another important issue to be dealt with by the next president.
From: Tambang Online