REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - Indonesia plans to review its coal and mineral mining Law Number 4 of 2009, which has triggered restlessness in the country.

In this regard, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sought advice from former justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra and invited him to the presidential office on Tuesday.

"The President has asked me to inform the concerned offices regarding ways to overcome the situation. Hopefully, it can be overcome by relaxing the regulation a bit to minimize losses for the state as well as the concerning companies," Mahendra said after the meeting. 

In a meeting that lasted for around an hour, Mahendra admitted that he had accepted the task. As several companies are in the process of setting up smelting plants, he noted that if these projects were halted then stagnation will set in. The situation can cause a blow to Indonesian reputation then leads to increasing unemployment rates, and waste construction materials at the project.

"The January 12, 2014, deadline is very near and I have accepted the task assigned by the President and it must be done immediately," he emphasized.

Based on the law, effective January 12, 2014, mining companies operating in Indonesia are not allow to export raw mining material from Indonesia. The companies were given time to prepare the plants since 2009, yet some of them have requested to postpone the implementation of the law until the next few years.

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