The Environment Ministry said the weak monitoring by authorities had not effectively resolved long-standing problems and had put the environment in a critical condition. Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta made unscheduled inspections at a number of coal mining companies in the South Kalimantan in early February. Gusti admitted that small-scale coal mining companies had failed to comply with obligations to protect the environment as stated in the documents related to the environmental management scheme and the environmental monitoring scheme. Data from the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) shows that currently 1,180 small-scale mining companies were operating in the East Kalimantan province with 33 big coal mining firms. In South Kalimantan, there are more than 400 small-scale coal mining firms and about 427 small coal mining firms in Southeast Kalimantan.

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