Empowering Communities to Reduce Dependence on Unlicensed Mining and Minimize Corporate Losses: A Case Study of PTBA in December 2023

This study aims to analyze the impact of community empowerment programs on reducing dependence on unlicensed mining and to measure the potential losses incurred by PTBA due to these activities. The time sample used in this research is December 2023. A quantitative approach is used to calculate the income earned by the community from six empowerment programs, including bamboo downstream processing, snakehead fish farming, reclamation plant cultivation, maggot farming, quail farming, and eel farming. The total income generated by these programs for 93 beneficiaries reached USD 13,238.22 per month, with an average income per program ranging from USD 153.70 to USD 244.39, which remains below the regional minimum wage (UMR) of Muara Enim Regency, set at USD 233 per month. This income is compared to assess how competitive the alternative livelihoods provided by the empowerment programs are. In addition, this study calculates PTBA’s losses from unlicensed mining in the same month, based on the extraction of 0.175 million tons of coal, the market price of USD 58.28 per ton, and the lost royalties of 8%. The total financial loss reached USD 10.2 million, with USD 815,920 in lost royalties. The analysis underscores the importance of expanding and strengthening community empowerment programs to further reduce unlicensed mining activities, while also mitigating the financial and environmental impacts on the company.