Freeport chief to meet Irianese over discontent
Freeport chief to meet Irianese over discontent
JAKARTA (JP): Irian Jaya tribes people will have a rare chance
to discuss their discontent with PT Freeport Indonesia with
Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold Inc. chairman James Moffet.
The American-based Moffet will visit Irian Jaya and meet with
local leaders to discuss local tribal peoples' opposition to the
company's operations in the Timika subdistrict.
Moffet and U.S. Senator Bennet Johnston, a Louisiana Democrat,
met with President Soeharto yesterday.
"Yes, I am on my way to a meeting. We will talk a lot more
about it after the meeting in Irian Jaya," Moffet announced after
meeting with Soeharto. He declined to say when he would return
from Irian.
PT Freeport operations in Irian Jaya have again come into the
spotlight since the publication of alleged violations of human
rights involving its security personnel over the last year.
In March, tribal people went on rampage in Timika after a
local was hit by a PT Freeport employee's car, forcing the
company to suspend operations for a couple of days.
Last year, an investigation by the Commission of Human Rights
found that 16 people had been killed in a series of clashes
between troops guarding the mining site and protesting local
tribal people.
Several tribes, who claim ancestral rights to the land under
PT Freeport concession, have charged that the company plunders
their natural wealth and has given little benefit to them.
The American Freeport-McMoran has a 82 percent stake in
Freeport Indonesia. The Indonesian government and privately-owned
PT Indocopper Investama have 9 percent each.
Moffet was in Irian Jaya at the wake of March's rioting. He
then promised to study the indigenous people's demands and to
return within a month with a reply.
Senator Johnston said that the Freeport affair was discussed
during the meeting with President Soeharto.
Johnston said PT Freeport Indonesia has a good environmental
record as affirmed by the result of a recent audit. (pan)