Bomb explosion hits Newmont's office in Lombok

JAKARTA (JP): A bomb exploded Friday morning at the office of copper and gold mining company PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara in the West Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Mataram on the island of Lombok.

Company spokesperson Iradati Fuad said the explosive, which appeared to be a "small" one, went off at 3.40 a.m. behind the Mataram office, causing minor damage to the premises.

No casualties were reported as the 54 employees stationed at the office were at home, except for the security guards, Iradati said.

She said the police have been investigating the case and Newmont has told its 54 employees to stay home until the police declared the office safe for them to resume activities.

She said Newmont's copper and gold mining operation in the Batu Hijau area on the island of Sumbawa ran normally despite the incident.

"There is no special instruction to step up security at the mine following the incident. Security at the mine is as tight as usual," she said.

The bomb blast took place after a series of bomb blasts rocked the country, especially Jakarta, killing dozens of people.

The most fatal incident happened mid September when a bomb exploded in the basement of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building, killing 11 people. The police had arrested dozens of people suspected of being involved in the bombing.

Antara reported the bomb explosion was audible up to a distance of one kilometer and caused a half-meter-wide hole in the building.

Speaker of the province's council HL Srinate speculated that the bomb had been probably placed by people who were disappointed by what they saw as the small contribution of the company to the promotion of the welfare of the local people.

"But this is only speculation," Srinate was quoted by the news agency as saying.

He said many locals had high hopes that the presence of the company would bring them a lot of benefit but the company did not meet their expectations.

"The people hope with the presence of the company, the roads will be improved. As it turned out, the condition of the existing roads has worsened because of the company's heavy equipment and fully-loaded vehicles," the council's speaker said.

He said the council had once proposed that the company build a special port near the mine so that the local people could benefit from its presence by opening small shops at the port.

The company however turned down the proposal, he said.

He also said the public had been initially informed that the mine mostly contained gold, but now the company has been spreading information that the mine contains more copper than gold.

"We believe the information, because we are stupid. We don't know precisely whether the mine contains gold, or even uranium," Srinate said.

Srinate said he personally preferred to delay the development of the Batu Hijau mine until the Indonesian people were skilled enough to develop it themselves.

Srinate said he could understand that the locals, especially those living outside the "mine circle", had accumulated disappointment over Newmont's presence and often staged protests against the company.

Newmont has given priority to those living inside the "mine circle", meaning around the mine, in its recruitment and community development program. (jsk)