Growing together with the community

Growing together with the community

Growing together with the community in which a mining company
operates is the key to operating successfully in Indonesia.

"Any natural resource-based company like a mining firm should
not separate themselves from the environment and community living
near their operation sites. They should show concern for problems
faced by locals if they want to win support from them," President
and Chief Executive Officer of publicly listed PT International
Nickel Indonesia (Inco), Bing Tobing, explained.

A company that fulfills its obligations, such as paying
royalties, taxes and land rental fees was good but not enough to
ensure that it can operate peacefully, according to Bing.

"For us, adapting our presence to the local environment and
community is a requirement when we want to grow. Only by growing
together with the local people, can we operate peacefully," he
said.

To help the surrounding people, he said, the company had
designed and conducted many community development (CD) programs
based on what the people need. "For instance, many young people
are currently in need of a job, so our CD program is focused on
education to allow them to have more job alternatives," he said.

Bing also emphasized the importance of disseminating any
change of policy made by the company's management, such as a
policies on job vacancies or employee recruitment. "By getting
the word out about the changes in policy, possible unexpected
incidents such as demonstrations can be prevented because locals
understand the reasons," he said.

PT Inco spends about US$1.5 million on CD programs per year.
The money is used to finance the projects related to such things
as education, health and agriculture in Sorowako, Central
Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi.