Aussie companies evacuate families of expat staff
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)