Five Smelters Related to Alleged Tin Corruption Will Be Managed by the State

The relevant agencies agreed to this decision after a cross-sector coordination meeting to discuss the follow-up to the seizure of five tin smelters on Bangka Island at the office of the Governor of Bangka Belitung. Present at the meeting were representatives of the Attorney General's Office, the Ministry of BUMN, the Main Director of PT Timah, the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP), the Acting Governor of Bangka-Belitung, the Head of the Bangka Belitung Regional Police, as well as officials from the Indonesian Army, Indonesian Navy and Indonesian Air Force in Bangka Belitung.

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These smelters will continue to be managed to prevent damage and provide a business or job opportunity for the Bangka Belitung community. (Amir Yanto)

Amir stated that they will hold further coordination meetings with the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, the Supreme Audit Agency, and other related agencies to ensure the best scheme in managing the five smelters. Especially since it involves several complex aspects, such as legal and financial aspects.

"We will convey to the Ministry of SOEs and they will designate a SOE, possibly PT Timah. Then, they will ensure whether the extraction of the raw material is from PT Timah's IUP or perhaps from seized smelters' IUP or other IUPs. Hopefully, this discussion can be concluded soon to avoid further harm to workers and the community," he said.

Based on data compiled by Kompas, the five smelters are CV VIP in the form of a plot of land covering an area of ​​10,500 square meters, PT SIP in the form of several lands with a total area of ​​85,863 square meters, PT TI in the form of several lands (84,660 square meters), and PT SBS in the form of several lands (57,825 square meters). The four smelters are in Pangkalpinang. Lastly, PT RBT in the form of a plot of land and several heavy equipment in Bangka Regency.

These five smelters are related to allegations of corruption by PT Timah, which have caused losses to the state of around Rp 271 trillion. This amount was obtained from the valuation of losses due to ecological damage, environmental economic losses, and the cost of restoring the damaged environment.

High value

Amir stated that these smelters have high asset values. If they are left inoperable, their asset value will dramatically decrease to just a pile of old iron. Nevertheless, the exact value of all these smelters' assets is still being calculated since the seizure was only carried out on Monday (22/4/2024). "If they don't operate, their asset value could drop from trillions of rupiah to billions of rupiah. Therefore, we (the government) will operate them," he said.

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Regarding illegal smelters, Amir also hopes to quickly find the best solution so that these illegal activities no longer violate existing regulations. "This is to prevent further losses, especially those that cause ecological or environmental damage," said Amir.

Secretary of the Special Criminal Prosecutor's Office of the Attorney General, Andi Herman, said that the five smelters are part of the evidence related to the alleged corruption case of tin management that has implicated 16 suspects since October 2023. As they have significant economic value and impact, the five smelters must be put back into operation.

If they continue to operate, the five smelters will not be neglected so that the related economic activities can continue as before. "Alhamdulillah, all participants in the meeting supported efforts to operate these assets and improve the tin management for the future," he said.

In addition, Andi conveyed that all relevant parties will inventory mining activities that do not yet have legality. This is aimed at improving tin governance in the future. "We also hope that stakeholders can facilitate the process of getting illegal small-scale mining legalized," he said.

Acting Governor of Bangka Belitung, Safrizal ZA, stated that based on the framework obtained from the meeting, the management of the five smelters will be entrusted to those who are skilled in managing them. In this regard, the party that has the ability to manage tin smelters is under the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises, which is likely to be PT Timah.

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Apart from anticipating the decrease in asset value, the main focus of managing the five smelters is to save the livelihoods of the community who have been working in those smelters. "We hope that the people who have been working there can continue to work but with legal corridors. We are all committed to eradicating illegal tin management, but we must not forget the fate of the workers," said Safrizal.