JAKARTA - A plan floated by the Indonesian government to amend regulations so that religious organisations can get permits to operate coal mines has been met with growing criticism from observers, with a Greenpeace campaigner calling it “terrifying”.
South-east Asia’s largest economy received US$34.59 billion from coal exports in 2023, according to the national statistics agency. Mr Putra Adhiguna, director at Jakarta-based Energy Shift Institute, said that a few years ahead of the election, President Joko Widodo made a promise to Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama to give mining concessions to help NU members.
He has since 2022 revoked hundreds of mining permits for various concessions across Indonesia and has planned to reissue the concession rights to parties keen to develop the mines.Some of the mining projects were left idle because the concession holders failed to find financiers to help with the development.