Deputy Minister of Manpower (Wamenaker) Afriansyah Ferry Noor supports the ban on the export of raw materials. One of them is thetin exportban that was recently initiated by President Joko Widodo or Jokowi.
"That's great. We must support it through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Investment, and others. So that mining products in Indonesia are useful for Indonesian citizens and the state," ferry said in a public discussion entitled Indonesia Mining and Energy Studies (IMES), at Bakoel Coffe Cikini, Sunday, October 30, 2022.
Ferry gave an example of the downstream nickel mining industry in Morowali, Central Sulawesi, which is able to absorb tens of thousands of local workers. The absorption rate of local workers is far more than the absorption of foreign workers (TKA) which only amounts to 4,000 people.
"There are 45 thousand local labor absorption in IMIP (PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park). TKA is required only at any time. For example, 6 months ago, some were extended by two or five years," said the Secretary General of the Star Moon Party.
Ferry also said the Ministry of Labor prepares a workforce with special abilities and competitiveness. In Samarinda, he said, there is a job training center (BLK) in the mining sector. There, the prepared workforce will be trained using excavators and other mining tools that require special skills.
Jokowi previously signaled the closure of tin export taps in line with the immediate completion of the PT Timah Tbk smelter project.Jokowiadmitted that he wanted all mining commodities to enter the downstream industry. This is to increase the value of mines in the country and employment can be expanded.
"If the calculations are cooked, I will announce it, next year's stop or this year's cessop, it can happen," he said, Thursday, October 20, 2022.
The Minister of Investment, Bahlil Lahadalia, also opened his voice on President Jokowi's decision to accelerate the ban on tin exports. He said the government had taken into account the impact of the plan.
"We have calculated that downstreaming of tin will have a positive impact on national development," said Bahlil when met at the Ministry of Investment office, South Jakarta on Monday, October 24, 2022.
He revealed that Indonesia is the second largest tin producer in the world after China. Meanwhile, China has downstreamed lead by 70 percent. Meanwhile, Indonesia has only reached 5 percent.
According to Bahlil, the halt in the export of raw tin aims to increase added value. Moreover, currently the price of these commodities is controlled by other countries whose tin producers are not as large as Indonesia.
Although many parties do not agree with the suspension of tin export taps, he believes that the government will not be afraid to take steps. "I know a lot of people don't agree with that, I know who the 'players' are, but the country won't be able to shake in the slightest. Until when does our country want to be played like that, don't be," he said.
The sooner Indonesia's tin export taps are closed, he said, the better the policy will be. "God willing, it will be faster and we have made theroadmap," said Bahlil.
Image source: Instagram/afriansyah_ferrynoor
