Figure 1. Prof. Purnomo Yusgiantoro in the Dr. Simon Felix Sembiring’s book launching event (Picture courtesy of The Directorate General of Mineral and Coal, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources)
On January 29, 2019, The Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center (PYC) attended the launching book of “Satu Dekade Nasionalisasi Pertambangan Indonesia: Mengungkap Karut-marutnya Implementasi UU Minerba dan Divestasi Freeport yang Penuh Jebakan”. This book is written by the former General Director of Mineral and Coal of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resource, Dr. Ir. Simon Felix Sembiring. The book launching was held in JS Luwansa Hotel to commemorate Mr. Simon’s 70th birthday. The event started by Mr. Simon symbolically giving the book to some honorable people, namely Prof. Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Mr. Freddy Numberi, Mr. Rokhmin Dahuri, Mr. Bambang Gatot Ariyono, Prof. Hikmahanto Juwana, Mr. Herman Afif Kusumo, Dr. Ryad Chairil, and Budi Santoso.
In his opening speech, Dr. Simon pointed up the messy implementation of the Mineral and Coal Law (Law No. 4/2019) after 10 years after its enactment as shown by overlapping regulation in the mining sector. He also highlighted some problems related to the divestment of PT Freeport Indonesia via PT Inalum, such as the process of purchasing Rio Tinto participating interest, the position of Rio Tinto in the Contract of Work (Kontrak Karya) in 1991 which will end in 2021, and the operation of Rio Tinto in the Block A. He suggested people to read his new book as the issues are thoroughly discussed there.
Prof. Purnomo Yusgiantoro also honored to give a speech on the book launching event. In his speech, Prof. Purnomo emphasized the importance of appointing a professional technocrat to sit on the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resource chair due to the sector’s complexity and challenges. He also added that the book will provide insights to the young generation about how Indonesia’s face various challenges in the mining sector.
Prof. Hikmahanto Juwono, Dr. Ryad Chairil, M.Sc. M.Eng, and Mr. Herman Afif Kusumo were invited as the panelists for the book review discussion. The discussion was moderated by Ir. Budi Santoso, IPM, CPI, MAusiMM. During the discussion, each panelist shared their perspectives of the content of the book and the way Mr. Simon write the book. The discussion also brought up the long story of the enactment of the Mineral and Coal Law and the different political condition between today and the 1960 era where the contract of PT Freeport Indonesia was signed.
