Halimah's hands repeatedly dredged the sand in the Sungumai River, where the water was only a hand's length deep. He made a depression so that the bath dipper could collect water without getting mixed with sand. For decades, Halimah and other Rangkiling Bakti residents have been bathing and washing clothes in the river.
"The water used to be clear, now it's cloudy," said Halimah while rubbing her clothes. This story is taken from the page mongabay.co.id which was uploaded March 13 2018.
Since the mining company started operating in 2016, the flow of the Sungumai River has been diverted for extractive purposes. Even though hundreds of residents in RT 03 and 04, Rangkiling Bakti, who depend on the Sungumai River, are confused about finding clean water.
Senior researcher from Article 33 Indonesia, Ermy Ardhyanti, said that coal mining causes problems for the people living around it. Households living in mining areas tend to have higher health costs, longer time to collect water, and poor water quality.
"Households who live in mining areas incur higher health costs per capita, the difference can be as much as IDR 238 thousand per year compared to those who don't," said Ermy during the discussion. Road to Indonesia Development Forum (IDF) 2018 with the title National Coal Vision: Considering Production and Environmental Impact, early June 2018.
IDF 2018 itself is a forum held by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and supported by the Australian Government through the Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI). IDF 2018 encourages the acceleration of development in Indonesia that is more equitable and sustainable based on science, experience and facts.
This year, the IDF took the theme "Breakthroughs to Overcome Regional Development Disparities Across the Archipelago". The results will be used as material for preparing the 2020-2024 Medium Term Development Plan.
Regarding the impact of coal mining, Ermy said that the total additional implicit costs for the health of communities around the mine are around IDR 1.77 trillion per year or around 0.02 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This figure is obtained by multiplying the total population in all mining areas who experience general illness complaints.
Regarding access to clean water, Ermy explained that households living in mining areas tend to spend longer collecting drinking water. They are forced to consume drinking water that is not clear. As a result, drinking water consumption is lower.
Households in mining areas have to spend more time collecting clean water. They need additional time ranging from 5-30 minutes so that the water collected does not smell or foam.
"Based on the value of income in 2015, the range of value of wasted time is around IDR 1.15 T per year or the equivalent of 0.01% GDP," said Ermy.
For this reason, Ermy suggested that coal mining should consider the distribution of population residences and river watersheds. He suggested that the government consider coal mining permits considering their contribution to state revenue and development.
Facing this input, Executive Director of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association Hendra Sinaga said there were several things that mining companies should pay attention to and comply with regarding the environment. The reference, according to Hendra, is in the Minister of Energy and Human Resources Regulation No. 34 of 2017.
"Companies are obliged to apply good mining engineering principles, carry out reclamation and post-mining, carry out community development and empowerment programs, comply with environmental carrying capacity tolerance limits, ensure the implementation of environmental standards and quality standards according to regional characteristics, and maintain the preservation of the function and carrying capacity of resources. water," said Hendra, citing Ministerial Regulations.
Head of the Mining Mineral Geology and Geothermal Sub-Directorate of the Ministry of National Development Planning, Togu Pardede, said the government limited coal production to only 400 million tons per year in 2019. In 2016, national coal production reached 434 million tons or exceeded 3.57 percent of the target. amounting to 419 million tons.
Last year, coal production reached 461 million tons, still far above the target of only 413 million tons. Meanwhile, this year, the government hopes that coal production will only be around 406 million tons throughout 2018. Limiting production is important to maintain environmental balance, especially regarding coal mining in conservation areas.
Switching to Green Industry
Intermediate Researcher at the Center for Climate Change and Multilateral Financing Policy at the Ministry of Finance's Fiscal Policy Agency, Joko Tri Haryanto, said that regions that can independently manage the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) usually have high Regional Original Income (PAD). Generally, areas with high PAD rely on the oil and gas and/or coal mining sectors.
Central mining areas such as Kalimantan and Sumatra have strong fiscal capacity and independence. However, said Joko, future growth prospects are decreasing, such as the East Kalimantan area which experienced negative growth throughout 2010-2017. This also happens in Sumatra and Sulawesi.
"The top five regions in Kalimantan experienced negative economic growth, as mining began to occur," said Joko.
Before it's too late, East Kalimantan plans to move sectors through planning Green Kaltim. This province is looking for other sectors to develop after mining is completed in the next few years. Joko hopes that this plan will be followed by other regions that only rely on income from mining. ***
Image caption: PURUK CAHU, 30/1- BEST COAL. An employee of a coal mining company stands on a four meter thick outcrop of coking coal which is flowed by a small river to form a waterfall in the Lampunut Block in the Barito Tuhup Raya District, Murung Raya Regency, Central Kalimantan, Thursday (29/1) Coke type coal is the best type of black gold compared to the thermal type which is used as raw material for the steel factory industry. PHOTO ANTARA/KASRIADI/ss/pd/09
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