Indonesia to grant coal mine asset to Islamic group Nahdlatul Ulama
JAKARTA - Indonesia is set to award a coal mining concession to the country's largest Islamic group, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), next week to provide it with a source of income, a Cabinet minister said on Friday.
The government issued a regulation last week allowing religious organisations to manage mining assets, which critics have said were a sign of pork barrelling and a reward to religious groups for their long political support.
Indonesia will award a coal concession in East Kalimantan to NU, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia told reporters.
Details about the concession will be revealed once the permit has been granted, he said, but added that the area was formerly a part of Kaltim Prima Coal's (KPC) old concession.
The size of KPC's mining area was trimmed by around 29 000 ha when it was granted a new permit in 2022.
NU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government would also offer similar assets to other religious groups, Bahlil said.
"This is the country's contribution to them. Personally, I think, we all want to go to heaven," Bahlil said, denying that move was politically motivated. "It has nothing to do with politics."
The mining business requires big capital, high levels of technology and trained workers, which are not easy to drum up quickly for an organisation without experience, Komaidi Notonegoro, an analyst with Reforminer Institute.
"The intentions are very good... but if the instrument chosen is not suitable, the concern is that this will become a burden for all parties," he said.
Another major Islamic group Muhammadiyah said it would not rush into taking the responsibility to make sure "the mining management did not cause problems for the organization, communities, and the nation".
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