Freeport vs. people
Freeport vs. people
If what The Jakarta Post has been reporting lately concerning
the 1991 shares transactions which involve PT Freeport Indonesia,
Indocopper Investment Corporation and PT Nusamba is true, there
is certainly much presented that would lead most analytical minds
to suspect that the transactions are not all that those involved
are asking the general public to believe.
Given the statement of Mr. Tadjuddin Noor Said, that the House
"supported" the divestiture by Freeport McMoRan Gold and Copper,
Inc. of an additional 10 percent of their ownership of PT
Freeport Indonesia, "for the people of Indonesia", one is hard
put to understand why a substantial bulk of the shares were
allowed to be repurchased by PT Freeport Indonesia only one year
later. Certainly such repurchase is not in keeping with the
supposed intent of the COW condition that formed the basis for
the required divestiture. Since the shares sale and the
repurchase occurred during the tenure of a single Minister of
Mines and Energy, and since until only recently has House
legislation been initiated by the House, one can only conclude
that the incumbent Minister who was responsible for the COW
development and implementation did not act responsibly and
competently.
Further, the divestiture requirement of the COW is clearly
poorly composed to have permitted such a manipulative scenario to
have transpired. There can be but few analytical minds who would
credit such gross oversight to accident and not to design. In
retrospect, the people of Indonesia have benefited not all from
this charade.
I have not been able to find anyone who remembers PT Freeport
McMoRan Gold and Copper, Inc. announcing their intent to sell 10
percent of their shares, and their willingness to provide a
substantial bank guarantee to anyone (Indonesian) willing to make
the purchase. I will appreciate a response from anyone who saw
such an announcement.
It should not be all that difficult for the responsible
authorities to investigate the relevant transactions. The loan
guarantee and loan agreements for the shares transaction should
certainly be reviewed, as should the receipts, withdrawal,
deposit and account records for the sale to PT Nusamba.
C. DUPUIS
Jakarta