Freeport promises Irianese a bigger stake

By T. Sima Gunawan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Freeport Indonesia, the giant American copper and gold mining company, agreed yesterday to allocate one percent of its income to the local community in Irian Jaya and hire more indigenous people, an official said.

The decision was made by the chairman of New Orleans-based Freeport McMoran Copper and Gold Inc. James Moffet one month after three days of riots in the Irian Jayan copper town of Timika and the Tembagapura mine, which killed four people.

"For the period of at least 10 years, PT Freeport will allocate one percent of its income for the benefit of local community in Irian Jaya," spokesman for the provincial administration, Fx. Suryanto Sri Wardoyo, told The Jakarta Post by phone last night.

"There are no details on how or when PT Freeport will do this. I hope there will be further meetings in the near future," he said.

Andrianto Machribie, president of PT Freeport Indonesia, was quoted by Antara as saying that the sum to be allocated for local community could be around US$15 million a year.

Suryanto said PT Freeport also pledged to recruit more indigenous people, improve their skills and give more attention to the environment and sanitation.

Moffet and a clutch of top officials, including Machribie, met with leaders of local tribes in Timika for about two hours yesterday morning. The meeting was opened by Irian Jaya Governor Jacob Pattipi and was attended by military commander Maj.Gen. Dunija as well as a number of local and central government officials.

A similar meeting was also held in Tembagapura later yesterday.

Moffet had earlier met with President Soeharto in Jakarta before flying to Irian Jaya on Friday.

Suryanto said PT Freeport agreed to provide scholarships for 200 Irianese students a year. Under the current program, the company provides scholarships to 100 students.

The company said it will double the number of Irian Jayan employees on the supervisor level within 10 years. It also pledged to double the number of indigenous people recruited by the company in the first five years. In the second five years, it will double the number again.

PT Freeport, which has operated in Irian Jaya since 1972, has about 12,000 employees, mostly from outside the province.

Security

According to AFP, thousands of security forces and police were mobilized in Timika ahead of yesterday's meeting.

"Almost every house of the Amungme (the local ethnic population in Timika) was guarded by an average of six armed soldiers," it reported.

Spokesman of the military command, Lt.Col. Maulud Hidajat, however, strongly denied these reports.

"We stood guard at strategic areas, such as the airport and public places, to prevent any unexpected incidents. But we didn't guard the houses of the Amungme people. We didn't deploy thousands of troops," he told the Post.

He said that the situation was calm and that life in Timika and Tembagapura were normal.

PT Freeport has been a frequent target of allegations of human right abuses and environmental degradation. Critics say that Freeport has not contributed enough to the well-being of local tribal people, who have the ancestral right to the land.

"It will be good for PT Freeport to involve more local people in its activities so that they have a sense of belonging. They should become more than onlookers," Hidajat said.

The company controls an area of 26,400 square kilometers with the world's largest proven reserves of gold. It is 82 percent owned by Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold, nine percent by the Indonesian government and the rest by the Bakrie Group.

PT Freeport is expected to release the results of its self- audit later this month and the report on the social implications of the mining activities in May.