Money laundering potential behind campus talk about mining concession management

Suara.com – SPEECH grant concessions mine has College be in the spotlight. Its implementation is considered likely to fall short of the objective of equitable management of natural resources. Indeed, mining management requires capital and governance is not easy. There are fears that mining concessions will only be reserved for renowned universities.

The granting of mining concessions to universities is contained in the revision of the Minerals and Coal Law in Article 51 A. Currently, this regulation has been approved by the legislative body of the DPR RI and is only waiting for the time to be ratified.

The Association of Indonesian Private Universities or Aptisi is the party that proposed this speech. APTISI President Budi Djatmiko said his proposal stemmed from their concerns about the very monotonous study programs at universities. They raised this concern with the 7th President Joko Widodo or Jokowi in 2016.

According to him, Indonesia, as a country with abundant natural resources, universities should see this as an opportunity to present contextual study programs.

“Nickel study program, gold study program, coal. So focus on that,” Budi said Suara.com Tuesday (1/23/2025).

Furthermore, after Prabowo Subianto's victory as president-elect in 2024, Budi gave this speech again when he was invited with a number of professors from various universities. He also presented his ideas on the importance of university involvement in mining management.

He is of the opinion that universities are non-profit organizations whose basis is research and human resource development. By involving universities, they will contribute to the development of mining products such as nickel and coal.

“Ultimately, we can open up downstream industries. For example, we can open a battery company, we can open an automobile company, etc. ”Budi said.

The project is a cooperation in the form of a partnership. Universities can own shares in mining companies. The existence of universities is not only aimed at developing the mining industry through research, but also as supervision.

According to him, the supervision of the mining industry in Indonesia is unclear at present. It is therefore important that universities, as neutral parties, provide oversight. In this way, natural resources are controlled by the people, not by foreign actors or certain companies.

This partnership can be achieved by universities opening study programs directly in areas with a mining industry. The concept is that of rural education for industry.

He gave an example: a university opened a mining studies program at PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua. This way, local people do not need to go to Jakarta to study. They stayed in their hometown and developed their village through the mining industry.

Budi says the concept of village-based industrial education can prevent further conflicts between local communities and mining concession-holding universities. At the same time, it will reduce environmental damage caused by mining.

“How could he want to destroy his village,” he said.

Indonesian Academic Freedom Caucus (KIKA) coordinator Satria Unggul criticized the speech. He also questioned whether this proposal truly represented the whole campus private sector in Indonesia. The reason is that to manage mining, universities must at least have capital and good governance capabilities. This capacity is of course different in each university, especially in private universities where “you don't want to live, you don't want to die”.

“We’re still talking about it. core business “of the campus, yes, not to mention mining later,” Satria told Suara.com.

No less worrying is that this opportunity could potentially be misused or fraudulent. Indeed, the concession granted takes the form of a special mining permit zone (WIUPK). In this case, the word “special” may be misused by businesses that use campus flags to avoid taxes that should be paid.

“This could be it money laundering, “The potential for corruption is very likely,” he explained.

On the other hand, Satria questioned the universities' commitment to the resulting environmental impact. How should this be taken into account? environmental cost neither social cost caused by the mining industry.

Satria therefore believes that the granting of mining concessions is far from the mandate of Article 33 of the Constitution which stipulates equitable management of natural resources for a just economy.

Response from private higher education

Chancellor of the Indonesian Islamic University (UII) Yogyakarta Prof. Fathul Wahid strongly rejects the granting of mining concessions to universities. He stressed that the management of mining companies is not the domain of universities.

“If I was asked, IU was asked, the answer included those who disagreed, because the regional campus is not there,” Fathul said some time ago.

He reminded campuses to focus on the Tridharma of higher education, namely education, research and community service. He fears that involvement in mining management could erode universities' sensitivity to the environmental impacts that occur.

“Business logic becomes dominant because money is usually a bit hypnotic. If that happened, it would be dangerous,” he said.

Al Azhar University of Indonesia Chancellor Asep Saefuddin expressed a different view. He agreed that universities should be granted mining concessions provided they respect the principles environmental, social and governance (ESG) or the impact of environmental damage.

“I think at the beginning, campus candidates who will run mines need to practice ESG first,” he told her. Suara.com.

The reason, he explained, is that running a mine is not just about making a profit, but also about how it can positively impact the surrounding community. Universities that obtain mining concessions cannot increase one-time tuition fees (UKT) and must accept 10 percent of students from anywhere within the mining site.

“If the person receiving mining management rights is from a campus far from the mining area, they must make the local campus a partner. The local campus also includes ESG,” Asep said.

On the other hand, he does not accept that mining concessions come into conflict with the Tridharma of higher education. According to him, the involvement of universities in mining management by adhering to ESG principles is part of community service, including research.

“Research results are applied directly. Students can learn and apply real business directly, not just theories. I agree, but of course the campus must be ESG-friendly,” he said. he concluded.