3rd review of Indonesia’s land law should be broadened from infrastructure, to include mining.

3rd review of Indonesia’s land law should be broadened from infrastructure, to include mining. [Posted 20 Feb 2015, 56 views, 1 like, o comments]

The Jakarta Post reported “Land rule revised to speed up projects” (17 Feb 2015) refers to the Government’s plan to make a third revision to expedite land acquisition to remove obstacles for infrastructure projects. The proposed new changes are 1) to apply to existing projects and 2) to allow the private sector to finance land acquisition. “Private companies carrying out infrastructure projects could either be assigned by the government through the tender process or work under a public-private partnership with the government”.

The present review of the mining law may consider;-

1. Having such land acquisition laws being applied to the exploration and mining industry. Indeed the IUP’s are a form of contract to the government, and the proposed new IUP’s are to be subject to a government tender system. Mineral mining companies are generally required to build smelters, and clearly these are part of Indonesia’s infrastructure system.
2. “As stated in the 2012 Law on Land Procurement, land acquisition should take a maximum of two years”. Here-in the government acknowledges the time needed for land acquisition. This time criteria may be applied to the mining industry. Thus the “Construction” period should be at least 2 years, and “Suspension” periods related to land acquisition should be at least 2 years.
3. The purpose behind such revision to the land law is to boost Indonesia’s economic growth to 7%. Applying such land acquisition law to the mining industry will contribute to a faster and broader economic growth for Indonesia.