An ongoing dispute between the central and local governments over the disbursement of authority to manage licenses for mining operations is unlikely to be resolved any time soon, the Jakarta Post daily on Monday reported.

    The country's mining sector has been plagued by overlapping mining regulations and weak coordination between central and local authorities.

    "There is discontinuity between the implementation of the Law on Mining and the Law on Regional Autonomy. The sector has faced difficult times since the enactment of the autonomy law," the Jakarta Post daily quoted Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) executive director Priyo Pribadi Soemarno as saying.

    Issues of environment, tax concessions are also major problems faced by investors regarding inefficiency in running the companies. Moreover, the recent shortage of electricity supply may worsen mining business here in Indonesia, reports said.

    In 2006, IMA recorded there were 9 billion U.S. dollars worth of investment commitments in the mining sectors. "But, until now, no significant realization has been seen. The companies only carryout small activities just to maintain their permits," he said.