TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The government and Regional Representatives Council (DPRD) of Bangka-Belitung is holding the Indonesian Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (ICDX) liable over the plummeting price of tin to around US$18,000 per metric ton.

Bangka-Belitung DPRD chief Didit Srigusjaya said the ICDX should be able to push tin prices up, as the exchange had promised at the beginning of its establishment.

In a meeting on tin trading at the Bangka-Belitung governor's office last weekend, Didit said that the commodity's management should be returned to its previous state if the ICDX cannot do much to help boost the price of tin.

Meanwhile, Bangka-Belitung governor Rustam Effendi asked the ICDX to provide clear information and take some responsibility. "Amidst Bangka-Belitung's economic slowdown due to the falling price of tin, the ICDX should be an initiator," he said.

ICDX representative Nursalam said the exchange cannot regulate the price of tin as they only serve as a transaction medium. The ICDX, he said, does not have a say in the agreements between sellers and buyers. Nursalam said the ICDX can help the government and employers raise prices by promoting Indonesian tin to prospective buyers in tin-buying countries and bring the buyers to the ICDX.

SERVIO MARANDA