Oyos Saroso HN, Bandar Lampung – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has urged Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan not to hesitate in enforcing the licensing policy in national parks, saying that national parks should be conserved and not exploited for mining.

"We hope Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan will be hesitant in issuing geothermal exploration licenses in the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (TNBBS) in West Lampung to PT Chevron and for geothermal exploration in the Mount Rajabasa forest in South Lampung," said Walhi campaign manager Mukri Friatna on Monday.

The geothermal exploration tender in Suoh-Sekincau was won by PT Chevron and geothermal exploration on Mount Rajabasa will be carried out by PT Supreme Energy.

Walhi has raised doubts over the license issued for exploration in TNBBS because the area is part of a conservation area, while the Mount Rajabasa forest area can still be explored for expansion although its status remains a protected forest. It is currently being proposed as a national park by the South Lampung regency administration.

"The forestry minister has endorsed the status of Mount Rajabasa as a national park, but other parties support the planned exploration of geothermal energy there. This is ambiguous," said Mukri.

In the past few years, the Lampung provincial administration and several regency administrations in Lampung have been eager to initiate the development of geothermal energy to overcome power shortages. Geothermal energy, found in a number of areas in Lampung, would be explored and exploited to generate power for rural areas not linked to the power grid.

During a visit to Lampung recently, Zulkifli said that besides exploring geothermal energy to generate power, Mount Rajabasa was being proposed as a national park.

"In principle, geothermal exploration and exploitation must not disrupt the ecosystem on Mount Rajabasa," said Zulkifli, who is a native of South Lampung.

Earlier, PT Chevron Geothermal Suoh-Sekincau, a subsidiary of which 95 percent is not directly owned by Chevron Corporation, obtained a mining license to explore, develop and operate the Suoh-Sekincau geothermal plant in West Lampung regency.

The project will be carried out together with Indonesian consortium PT Austindo Nusantara Jaya, which owns 5 percent of PT Chevron Geothermal Suoh-Sekincau. For the project, Chevron obtained a concession area of 320 square kilometers. The mining license was signed by the West Lampung regent. The Suoh-Sekincau geothermal power plant is expected to produce 430 megawatts of power.