JAKARTA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government will launch an operation on Sept. 1 to halt more than 1,000 illegal mining activities across 4.26 million hectares of forest nationwide, Febrie Adriansyah, chief executive of the forest area regulation task force, said on Thursday.
The move came as the country has long been impacted by rampant illegal mining that fails to meet safety standards. Such activities have often triggered disasters, causing hundreds of casualties and inflicting severe damage on mining sites and surrounding areas.
Adriansyah told a press conference that the government had instructed the task force to immediately enforce regulations in forest areas where unlicensed mining is taking place.
Reports indicate that at least 1,063 illegal mining sites have been identified across the country's forests.
Following the operation, Adriansyah noted, the forest lands previously exploited by illegal miners would be temporarily managed by the state-owned mining holding company, MIND ID. ■
