What has been characterized as a moratorium, however, appears to...

What has been characterized as a moratorium, however, appears to fall short of a permanent prohibition. “We’ve been assured it is not the case of a total ban,” says one potential foreign investor. “A review of licenses would be a totally responsible thing to do.”

National University of Singapore sociologist Maribeth Erba, who has studied the impact of mining and tourism in NTT, believes local NGOs have had the advantage of bad examples elsewhere to convince residents that extractive industries are not in their collective interest.

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