Jakarta (ANTARA News) - All of the 112 mineral contractor companies (KK) and coal mining contractor firms (PKP2B) are expected to sign the contract amendment agreements before October this year, a minister stated.

"All mineral work contract (KK) companies and PKP2B should have signed the contract amendment before the end of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonos administration term in October," Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik stated here on Friday.

The minister remarked after witnessing the signing of the contract amendments with 25 mineral and coal companies at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources building. The 25 companies signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government to amend their contracts based on the law on mineral and coal mining.

"Of the 112 companies, only 25 have agreed to sign the contract amendments. We will continue to approach the others so that all companies would have signed the agreements before October," the minister clarified.

He explained that the negotiation on the contract amendment should have ideally finished on January 12, 2010, or one year after Law No. 4/2009 came into effect. However, the job could not be finished due to several factors that had to be adjusted according to the conditions of the companies.

A total of 6 Mineral Work Contract companies (KKs) and 19 Coal Mining Work Contract Firms (PKP2B) have signed the agreements on the amendments of their contracts with the government to implement the law on mining.

"The amendment agreement signing is expected to help accelerate renegotiation of all KKs and PKP2Bs based on the directives as stipulated in Law No. 4/2009," Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik stated after witnessing the signing of the amendment here on Friday.

The 6 KK firms are Karimun Granite, PT Tambang Mas Sable, PT Tambang Mas Sangihe, PT Iriana Mutiara Mining, PT Iriana Mutiara Indeburg and PT Woyla Aceh Mineral.

The 19 PKP2B companies are PT Batualam, PT Kadya Caraka Mulia, PT Baramarta, PT Tanjung Alam Jaya, PT Selo Argokencono Sakti, PT Eka Satya Yanatama, PT Banjar Intan Mandiri, PT Mandiri Intiperkasa, PT Darma Puspita Mining, PT Abadi Batu Bara Cemerlang, PT Selo Argodedali, PT Bara Pramulya Abadi, PT Jorong Barutama Greston, PT Turbaindo Coal Mining, PT Kartika Selabumi Mining, PT Astaka Dodol, PT Adimas Baturaja, PT Baturona Adimulya and PT Riau Bara Harum.

The minister added that renegotiation of contracts was not an easy task because it needed a good approach.

"There are at least 86 mineral companies still, which have not yet signed the contract amendments. We will do our best to ensure that all companies sign the contract amendments this year," the minister added.

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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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