Tue, 27 Jun 2000

Government urges police to be stern

JAKARTA (JP): The government urged on Monday the police to take tougher actions against protesters to protect the operations of coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal in East Kalimantan and gold mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in North Sulawesi.

Director general at the Ministry of Mines and Energy Surna Tjahja Djajadiningrat said the situation at the mining sites of both companies, already rocked by many protests has been worsening and the police need to take action.

"There is no other way but to ask the police to act sternly against the protesters," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said he would send a letter to the National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo asking for special attention at KPC's mining site.

He noted, however, that the letter had yet to be approved by Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

KPC stopped operation on June 15 after some 150 striking workers took control of important mining facilities to demand a 15 percent salary increase.

He said he had also received reports that Newmont had been forced to close its gold mining operation due to protests from the local people.

Surna said that KPC was willing to resume negotiations with the workers, provided that they leave the mining site.

He said that although he respected the workers' right to voice their demands, he could not tolerate their action.

"The strike is causing losses to the company and the state," he added.

He said the local police should not hesitate to step in and dismiss the workers at the mine, since the Regional Committee for the Settlement of Labor Disputes (P4D) has already ruled the strike illegal.

KPC has said that it was loosing Rp 3 billion (US$348,837) sales per day due to the strike and was also facing penalties from buyers for failing to supply coal on time.

The company said that most of its 2,600 workers did not support the strike and local residents have expressed intentions to drive out the protesting workers themselves.

Surna said he sees a growing trend of people forcing their will on mining companies.

"I fear that should we fail to solve the problem with the workers at KPC, others might imitate their action," he explained.

Aside from KPC, gold mining company PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM) has also stopped operating since April due to a land dispute with residents of the Kutai Barat regency, East Kalimantan.

Locals have demanded more land compensation and have blocked the only access road leading to KEM's gold mine.

Both, KEM and KPC are subsidiaries of Australian mining giant, Rio Tinto.

Surna said that Newmont has been forced to halt its operation in the Ratatotok regency, North Sulawesi because of land compensation demands like KEM has received.

According to Newmont's press release, former land owners of its mining area rejected on Monday negotiations with the company and have instead blocked the access road to the gold mine.

The claims by the locals date back to the early 1990's when nearly 400 individuals sold their land to Newmont, the statement said, adding that it was now facing 24 new claims.(bkm)