Newmont calls for govt help over land dispute<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Gold mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in
\nMinahasa Regency, North Sulawesi called on Thursday for the
\ngovernment to help resolve its land dispute with the former
\nlandowners.<\/p>\n
Company general manager Paul Lahti said in a statement that
\nthe ex-landowners were pressing the company to pay additional
\ncompensation for their former lands by blockading the company's
\nore crusher.<\/p>\n
The action has forced the third shutdown of the company's
\noperations in less than three months, he said.<\/p>\n
Lahti explained that Newmont had tried to negotiate with the
\nso-called Group of Five but the effort had been fruitless.<\/p>\n
"We've tried very hard to facilitate discussions on this
\n(land) issue, provide for neutral arbitrators to review all
\naspects of the cases and to seek alternatives for the resolution
\nof the dispute, but the Group of Five has rejected every offer
\nwe've made," he said.<\/p>\n
Lahti said the company was looking for help from the Minahasa
\nregency authorities, the local police, the North Sulawesi
\nprovincial administration and the central government to enable it
\nto resolve the ongoing dispute.<\/p>\n
"The government cannot allow incidents like this to continue
\nacross the country. A handful of people are breaking the law and
\nthe police need to enforce the laws of this nation for investors
\nto have any confidence in North Sulawesi and Indonesia," Lahti
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He stated that Newmont still hoped the dispute could be
\nsettled peacefully, but he said the protesters were in violation
\nof the law and have made verbal threats against company
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
According to Lahti, the protesters numbered 12 people,
\nincluding five ex-landowners who demanded the company pay them
\nmore money for the land they sold to Newmont in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n
Lahti described the demands as illegitimate, adding that the
\ngroup's actions were not supported by the rest of the 400 ex-
\nlandowners.<\/p>\n
Newmont says that it is unable to meet the additional demands
\nbecause it had paid the 400 landowners whose land it acquired
\nsome "healthy" compensation packages between 1989 and 1994.<\/p>\n
Lahti said that as the ore feed for the crusher was running
\nlow as a result of the protesters' blockade, Newmont was forced
\nto shut down the feed into the processing plant in the Ratatotok
\nsub-district of Minahasa, thus closing down the operation.<\/p>\n
Newmont was previously forced to halt operations for a week in
\nJune when local residents blocked the access road to the mine,
\ndemanding additional compensation for the disputed land.<\/p>\n
The one-week-long protest in June cost the company around
\n2,000 metric tons of lost gold production per day.<\/p>\n
The land dispute is the latest in a series of problems
\nexperienced by Newmont this year.<\/p>\n
The company was involved in an acrimonious tax dispute with
\nthe local government earlier this year. The Tondano regency sued
\nNewmont last year for a total of Rp 62 billion (US$7.7 million)
\nin outstanding taxes on building materials and for other
\ncompensation.<\/p>\n
The company eventually agreed in April this year to pay the
\nlocal administration US$500,000 plus some compensation after the
\ndispute had dragged on for months.<\/p>\n
Newmont Minahasa Raya is 80 percent owned by Denver-based
\nNewmont Mining Corp. and 20 percent by Tanjung Sarapung, which is
\nowned by local businessman Yusuf Merukh.(cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/newmont-calls-for-govt-help-over-land-dispute-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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