Indonesia president says billions lost to illegal tin mining every year

JAKARTA: Indonesia is losing more than two billion dollars every year to illegal tin mining and smuggling, President Prabowo Subianto said Monday.

The Indonesian leader ordered authorities to step up enforcement earlier this month in islands rich in the metal used in everything from electronics to making glass.

“There are still many illegal mines,” he told reporters on Monday. “The losses are quite significant, estimated at 40 trillion rupiah ($2.4 billion) per year, and this has been going on for almost 20 years.”

Prabowo said the military was involved in operations to stop illegal tin smuggling from the Bangka-Belitung Islands, a hub for the illicit activity.

“Over 20 years, that’s 800 trillion ($48.2 billion). What could we build with that? What kind of country could we build with such resources?” he asked.

Earlier this month, Prabowo visited Bangka-Belitung Islands Province to witness the seizure of assets from tin smelters implicated in a corruption case.

Six smelters were seized in that case and handed over to state-owned mining company PT Timah TBK.

Prabowo was speaking on Monday at a press conference where the attorney general also said around $800 million had been returned to the government’s coffers from palm oil companies, which the president said were part of huge “state losses”.

Attorney General ST Burhanuddin said three palm oil companies had been prosecuted over “economic loss to the state” amounting to 17 trillion rupiah ($1 billion), most of which was being returned.