KEM ready to settle land dispute<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM), a subsidiary
\nof the Australian mine giant Rio Tinto said it was ready to pay
\nadditional compensation to end a land dispute with residents near
\nits gold mine in East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
KEM's acting spokesman, Anang Rizkani Noor, said the company
\nhad agreed to pay additional compensation for the disputed land
\npending the assessment of some 6,000 claims made by the locals.<\/p>\n
\"We've already verified almost all the claims,\" he told
\nreporters at the Jakarta office of mining company PT Rio Tinto
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Anang is the spokesman of Rio Tinto, which owns 90 percent of
\nKEM. PT Harita Jayaraya, the local partner, owns the remaining 10
\npercent.<\/p>\n
KEM was forced to close down its gold mine last month after
\nlocals blocked the only supply road to the gold mine, located
\nalong the Kilian River.<\/p>\n
Locals have occupied the road since April 18, but KEM
\ncontinued to operate for 10 days until its fuel and camphor
\nsupplies, both required during production, began to thin out.<\/p>\n
Anang acknowledged that KEM's mining area of 1,285 hectares
\noverlapped with properties owned by the local residents and the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
He said that 400 of the land owners received compensation in
\n1990.<\/p>\n
The company, however, is facing 6,000 new claims, exceeding
\nKEM's mining total areas, he said, adding that the provincial
\ngovernment formed in 1998 a verification team to assess the
\nclaims.<\/p>\n
Anang said that while KEM awaited the results of the
\nverification team, the company was still in negotiations over how
\nmuch compensation it needed to pay.<\/p>\n
\"We're optimistic that we will reach an amiable agreement,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Anang, however, declined to explain the size of the disputed
\nland and the amount of compensation the locals demanded, as well
\nas how much the company was willing to pay.<\/p>\n
\"We're still in talks and the amount of the compensation
\nchanges all the time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Anang added that locals had opened the negotiations with a
\nprice of Rp 100,000 per square meter, which, according to him,
\nwas too high.<\/p>\n
He asserted that this price level would ruin the local estate
\nmarket of the East Kalimantan province, adding that the even the
\nlocal government had urged KEM not to pay higher than the local
\nmarket price.<\/p>\n
Asked whether KEM would seek the help of the central
\ngovernment in finding a solution, he answered that at present
\nthere was no reason to do so.<\/p>\n
\"We just keep reporting to the government on the development
\nof our situation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He admitted, though, that the current situation was the worst
\nthe company had thus far experienced since it began operations in
\n1992.<\/p>\n
Anang refused to state how much the mine closure would affect
\nKEM's production, saying only that it planned to produce 14 tons
\nof gold this year.<\/p>\n
KEM has an average production output of between 13 tons to 14
\ntons of gold per year, Anang said. Its contract of works on the
\nmining site will expire in 2004.<\/p>\n
He blamed \"reform euphoria\" for triggering the incident.<\/p>\n
After the downfall of former president Soeharto in 1998, many
\nmining companies saw themselves in conflict with locals over tax,
\nland and royalty payments.<\/p>\n
But Anang said that the company would not evacuate its
\nemployees, which currently total some 1,500 people, of which 34
\nare expatriates.<\/p>\n
He said that while supplies of fuel and camphor had stopped,
\nfood was still available.<\/p>\n
\"This is because the locals supply our food,\" he said. (bkm)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kem-ready-to-settle-land-dispute-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }