Antara News·Indonesia·Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:55 PM

Lawmaker questions Chinese workers at illegal mine in Sumbawa

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Nur I, Rahmad Nasution

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - A lawmaker from the Indonesian province of West Nusa Tenggara's legislative council has questioned the presence of several Chinese nationals at a mine in Sumbawa District after a landslide killed three people and injured six others.

Samsul Fikri, a member of the West Nusa Tenggara legislative council's Commission IV, said the mine lacked full legal authorization because its people's mining permit had not been approved.

"Formally, the status is incomplete. Operating without a people's mining permit under regulations is illegal. The Sumbawa district head has also said operations without permits are prohibited," Samsul said here Wednesday.

More than 10 proposals for people's mining areas are being processed through cooperatives, from the district head's office to the provincial government and ministry, he said.

Samsul said authorities found a 10-hectare cooperative certificate and a two-hectare privately owned plot at the site, but operational mining requirements had not been met.

Mining operations involved excavators and trucks during the day, while local residents conducted manual digging at night, he said.

The pattern posed safety risks because mining was conducted without adequate occupational safety measures, Samsul said.

"This is the main problem. There is no safety protection for the community. When people die, who is responsible? This must be clarified," he said.

Beyond licensing issues, Samsul raised concerns about Chinese foreign workers at the mine who were reportedly serving as technical personnel.

He called for a comprehensive verification of their status, including passports, immigration permits and work permits.

"If they are only temporary technicians and have completed all procedures, that can be accepted. But this must first be cross-checked," he said.

Samsul acknowledged that the regional regulation governing people's mining permits had not yet been approved by the council's Commission IV. Commission III, meanwhile, had set a 16 percent levy.

"What matters most is firm law enforcement by supervisory authorities to prevent similar incidents from happening again," he said.

Earlier, the West Nusa Tenggara Energy and Mineral Resources Agency deployed a team to investigate a landslide that occurred at a mine pit in Lantung, Sumbawa District, on September 5, 2026.

The agency's head, Samsudin, said on Tuesday that the team had been deployed, but its findings had not been received because communications at the site were difficult.

"The team has been deployed, but we have not received its report. We will provide the latest information later because there is poor signal at the site," Samsudin said.

Lantung Subdistrict is within a designated people's mining area, he said. However, the landslide site that killed three miners is suspected to be outside the area because it lies in a forest.

"Lantung is a large subdistrict. A people's mining area can cover up to 25 hectares, while a people's mining permit covers 10 hectares. We don't yet know which block the site is in," he said.

There are more than 10 designated blocks in Lantung, Samsudin said.

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