TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The deaths of 27 people in abandoned mineshafts in Kalimantan from 2011 to 2016 should never have happened. Mine owners should have carried out their obligations to reclaim, or refill pits and replant vegetation over them once mining operations cease.

The fact is these mine shafts and pits were left unfilled and uncovered. They filled up with rainwater, turning them into huge lakes full of metallic sediment and coal remnants. A mining agency satellite image identified 632 existing mine pits twice the number reported by companies. Kutai Kartanegara holds the record for the most, with 264, followed by Samarinda, East Kutai, Paser, West Barat, Berau and North Penajam Paser. There are signs of violation of the rules in several places. The family of Kutai Kartanegara Regent Rita Widyasari also "contributed" to the total through Swara Perkasa and Beringin Jaya Abadi companies.

Even a simple obligation, such as fencing off abandoned mineshafts to prevent people from falling into them, has not been imposed. But the coal mining tycoons in East Kalimantan are no ordinary businessmen. There are ministers, regional chief executives, and well-known entrepreneurs. Among them are Reza Pribadi, son of businessman Henry Pribadi, who has allowed mineshafts to remain uncovered since 2012.

When a youth in the area died on December 2015, they immediately put up a warning notice and a new fence. This was only a day after East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak suspended the operations of 11 coal mining companies. The question is: why did it take three years to put up a warning notice? Does it need a death and a suspension of business operations by the governor before any prevention measures are carried out?

The Mineral and Coal Law and Government Regulation No.78/2010 on Reclamation and Unused Mines both oblige companies to return the land around disused mines to its former state. This may happen at a later stage, but details of the planning stages and the environmental impact analysis must be completed before new mining starts. Reclamation must start within 30 days of the cessation of mining operations.

The fact that this obligation has been ignored for years, causing people to die, deserves serious attention of regional and central governments, specifically the ministries of energy and mineral resources as well as that of the environment. The East Kalimantan Mining Agency must remind mining companies from the outset of their obligation to rehabilitate the land after its use. Coordination is vital in order to prevent companies from reneging on their responsibilities through various ruses.

For example, it is not impossible to change the function of these mineshafts, with the excuse that "the people need the water for their consumption and fish farms". The condition of the water sources must be checked and efforts to reclaim and replant must be monitored. Without this due diligence, the water will kill the fish, not keep them alive. An independent test by Tempo of water from the Multi Harapan area found a pH level of 3.6, where the minimum safe standard for drinking is 6-8.

These legal violations are a consequence of negligence by the central and regional governments, especially in their oversight. Coordination must be improved immediately, and there must be no "throwing in the towel". The right administrative sanctions should be drawn up and legal punishments imposed.(*)

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