Freeport's social commitment
I am writing in response to Mr. Dan Adams' uninformed and outrageous attack on Freeport Indonesia in his letter to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Please, Mr. Adams, show us the facts behind your statement that "the main causes of famine in Irian Jaya is the exploitation of its wealth by Freeport." I've reviewed the article that you cite (The Jakarta Post, Sept. 8, 1998), and nowhere in that article does Governor Freddy Numberi make a statement you claim he made. Since the governor didn't make the statement, it is obviously one of your own construction, which you attempt to parade as fact.
The famine that gripped Irian Jaya last year stemmed from the El Nino effect. Indeed, had Freeport Indonesia not been where it is, many more Irianese would have died during the famine. Freeport Indonesia provided the financial and logistical support for the lion's share of the relief effort. If you do not believe this, please ask the Mission Aviation Fellowship, the International Committee for the Red Cross, the United Nations Development Program, or the provincial health department of Irian Jaya, and they will tell you that their efforts would not have been successful if not for the support, both logistical and financial, that they received from Freeport Indonesia.
As for the "rape and plunder" Mr. Adams ascribes to Freeport Indonesia, please consider this: when Freeport Indonesia first arrived in Irian Jaya in 1967, the life expectancy of the people living near our operations was roughly 29 years of age. Malaria morbidity (infection rate) was in the neighborhood of 70 percent to 80 percent. And infant mortality was so high, that the highland people didn't name their children until the age of 3 or 4. Now, life expectancy is nearing 60 years of age, malaria morbidity is close to 3 percent, and every child has a name from the time they are born. All these improvements are due to the US$20 million worth of social welfare and health programs Freeport Indonesia voluntarily provides each year.
In addition to that, the taxes, royalties, dividends, and other direct and indirect financial benefits that Freeport Indonesia provides to Indonesia every year, totaling 94 percent of the total revenue generated by our operations since 1991, is much needed by Indonesia right now. I am certain that the ordinary Indonesians, including the many thousands of Irianese who benefit from our presence in this country would hardly consider any of those benefits to be ill-gotten gain.
Mr. Adams, you've erred because you don't know the facts. And in so doing, you've also injured well-meaning people with your irresponsible and grossly uninformed statements. Among those whose reputation you have sullied are the 400 community development workers that Freeport Indonesia employs to listen to the aspirations of the Irianese, and to assist the Irianese in dealing with the rapid pace of change that is happening around them.
Although we clearly have social and environmental impacts, Freeport Indonesia also has a social conscience and a commitment to addressing those impacts that, I believe, is unrivaled in this country.
EDWARD J. PRESSMAN
Manager, Public Affairs
Freeport Indonesia
Jakarta