Jakarta – The government's decision to grant state-owned mine concessions to religious groups has been met with criticism from former chairman of Muhammadiyah Din Syamsudin, who claimed the move caused more harm, especially to the environment, than benefit.
Din, who led one of the country's largest Muslim organizations between 2005 and 2015, said Muhammadiyah should instead take part in addressing problems and challenges faced by the country and not become part of those problems.
"As a member of Muhammadiyah, I propose that it rejects the offer from Investment Minister Bahlil and President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo. The grant would bring more harm than benefits," Din said on Tuesday, as reported by kompas.tv.
Earlier on Sunday, Bahlil revealed that the ministry was in the process of issuing a mining operation permit (IUP) for the central executive board of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), another large Muslim group in the country.
The announcement came only a few days after Jokowi signed a government regulation (PP) allowing religious organizations to manage state-owned mines, a move widely seen as pork barrel politics and a reward for NU's support for the President.
"The granting of [permits to manage] coal mines was carried out in the midst of global protests against fossil energy as one of the causal factors of climate change and global warming," Din went on.
On the other hand, NU chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf lauded the government's decision to allow religious groups to hold mining permits "as it could help better distribute the benefits of mining activities to the public".
Yahya further asserted NU's readiness to manage the coal-mining concessions due to its qualified human resources and robust business network. (vny)