"Only" 13 Companies Allowed To Mine In Indonesia's Protected Forests

[hatrack]

"Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim assured on Friday that no more mining companies would be allowed to operate in protected forests despite the possibility of other concessionaires filing lawsuits against the government.

The House of Representatives endorsed on Thursday a government regulation in lieu of law (Perpu) that paves the way for 13 mining companies to resume operations in protected forests. The Perpu's endorsement has raised public fears that the government would also give in to demands by more than 100 other mining companies to resume operations in protected forests.

Nabiel told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the government anticipated lawsuits by more than 100 other mining firms that wanted the same privilege.

"The risks (of being sued) have been minimized. We don't make the choices, they (the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources) do. The 13 companies would have most likely (won lawsuits) as they had already invested huge amounts of money here," he said."

EDIT

http://forests.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=33615

[the Kelly Gang]

1. and any guess on who owns the companies