Companies operating in the nickel-rich region must comply with the Indonesia’s environmental regulations or risk getting their operating licenses revoked, a senior Indonesian cabinet minister warned on Tuesday.
As parts of its efforts to use its vast nickel reserves to become a regional manufacturing hub for electric vehicle batteries, Indonesia has signed more than a dozen deals worth $15 billion with global manufacturers including Hyundai, LG and Foxconn in just three years.
However, environmentalists have expressed concerns that realizing that goal would mean increased mining and mineral processing, which will in turn irreversibly damage the environment, as evidenced in other parts of the resource-rich country.
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“You have to comply with regulations set up by the Indonesian government. If you can’t, I will shut down your industry within two months. Maybe it would reduce some of our revenue, but then (we) don’t want to compensate for that with a bad environment,” said Luhut Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs at an economic forum in Jakarta.
Luhut referenced the country’s largest nickel processing complex, the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi province, saying a government team has been sent to investigate environmental and worker complaints raised there last month.
He also warned that the government could take action against any non-compliant companies.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
