Fri, 17 Sep 1999

Aussie companies evacuate families of expat staff

JAKARTA (JP): Several Australian companies operating in Indonesia are taking precautionary measures due to deteriorating relations between the two countries over the crisis in East Timor.

Coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) in Sangatta, East Kalimantan, has sent 100 dependents of Australian staff and contractors to either Singapore or their homeland, KPC public relations officer Ali Nurdin told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"All Australian staff remain at the mining site. But we have prepared an emergency plan to pull them out of the province at anytime," Ali said.

He said company president Grant Thorne held a meeting with the local community on Thursday afternoon to explain the benefits it received from KPC's operations.

"The villagers promised during the meeting to protect the company and all its staff," Ali said.

KPC, which is one of the world's largest coal mining companies with a total output of 15 million tons per year, is jointly owned by Anglo-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto and British energy company British Petroleum.

Most of its 50 expatriate employees are Australians.

Rio Tinto, through its subsidiary PT Kelian Equatorial Mining, operates a gold mine in Long Iram, Kutai district.

Dow Jones reported that Broken Hill Proprietary Co. (BHP), with activities in steel, energy and mining sectors, evacuated 50 expatriate staff from East Kalimantan's largest town of Balikpapan.

The action has not affected operations at BHP's three coal mines because the majority of the workers are local Indonesians, a company spokesman said.

A senior manager and a small team of staff have stayed on in Balikpapan and the evacuated staff are on standby to return when the situation in Kalimantan stabilizes, the spokesman said.

An aide to BHP president Harriet Richards told the Post that the evacuees were mainly family members.

"We will evacuate the other staff as soon as the situation gets worse." However, the aide refused to say to where the staff would be evacuated.

Other Australian companies are also putting contingency plans together, with others discouraging travel to Indonesia or monitoring the latest developments to decide on appropriate measures.

Major Australian firms represented in Indonesia include Coca Cola Amatil Ltd., Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), telecommunications giant Telstra, Qantas Airlines and Ansett Australia Holdings.

Rumors circulated on Wednesday that local youth organizations planned to force Australian nationals from the mineral rich province.

A police officer on duty at the provincial police headquarters told the Post by phone that no incidents of violence were reported in recent days despite the widespread anti-Australia sentiment.

"We haven't received any reports," he said.

He confirmed that protests were held by local youth organizations and university students, but none of them targeted Australian companies.

"Instead, the protesters covered an Australian memorial monument with black fabric and put an Indonesian flag atop it."

Demonstrations have been held in Balikpapan and the provincial capital of Samarinda, with protesters demanding that the Australian government apologize for recent attacks on Indonesian representative offices in Australia. The demonstrators also warned Canberra not to meddle in Indonesia's internal affairs.

Meanwhile, Australian honorary consul in Kalimantan, Barry Cooke, left Balikpapan on Tuesday "for an assignment in his country for two weeks", a member of the consulate's staff told Antara news agency. (05/jsk)