South Sulawesi Pushes Crackdown on Illegal Mining

RRI.CO.ID, Makassar - The South Sulawesi Regional Legislative Council (DPRD Sulsel) has issued an urgent demand to the provincial administration to drastically tighten its oversight of illegal mining activities following a surge in unauthorized excavations across multiple regencies throughout 2026.

The legislative pressure points directly to unlicensed Category C mineral mining operations, which extraction critics argue are accelerating environmental destruction, worsening the degradation of river basins (DAS), and driving up the risk of severe regional disasters such as flash floods and landslides.

Speaker of Commission D of the DPRD Sulsel, Kadir Halid, highlighted that the scale of illegal extractions has sparked intense public outrage over the past six months.

"Until June, this activity has been in the public spotlight. Unlicensed Class C mining activities are considered to have the potential to cause environmental damage," said Chairman of Commission D of the South Sulawesi Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD), Kadir Halid, in Makassar, Thursday, June 18, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

The scope of the crisis was brought to light by the South Sulawesi DPRD’s Accountability Statement Report (LKPJ), which revealed a startling estimate: unlicensed activities currently dominate nearly 70 percent of all Category C mining operations across the province.

In response to the alarming report figures, the DPRD Sulsel has requested the provincial governor to officially dispatch a formal recommendation to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) and the Ministry of Environment. The recommendation seeks a comprehensive, deep evaluation of corporate mining permits across the Regencies of Enrekang, Maros, Gowa, Jeneponto, and Takalar, where legal non-compliance has been flagged.

The council emphasized that enforcement agencies must look beyond low-level field workers and track down the elite financiers backing the illegal supply chains.

Additionally, public scrutiny regarding the issue has intensified following allegations concerning the involvement of certain government officials in protecting these illegal operations. Civil society coalitions and grassroot groups in Takalar, Maros, Enrekang, and North Toraja Regencies continue to voice strong opposition to extraction activities that directly threaten village safety and rural ecosystems.

While regional law enforcement agencies have initiated several field raids to disrupt these unlicensed operations, independent civilian watchdogs, including the Anti-Mining Community Alliance, are calling for a transparent, sustained, and uncompromising campaign. The alliance stresses that only long-term legal accountability can successfully halt ecosystem collapse and safeguard the fundamental interests of local communities. ***