IMA pledges to be more active in helping members

IMA pledges to be more active in helping members

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) pledged
on Thursday it would work to repair the bad image of the
country's mining companies.

Association chairman BN Wahyu said in the past the
organization had been accused by various international mining
companies of not defending them against criticism from the public
and environmentalists.

The organization was also criticized for keeping too low a
profile in dealing with the government.

Wahyu ascribed the association's "passivity" on the control
government officials held over its management since it was
establishment in 1975.

"IMA has been muzzled for many years. We now want to become an
independent organization," Wahyu said.

He said IMA hired consultancy firm Price Waterhouse to help
restructure the organization in 1997.

Based on recommendations from the consultancy firm, the
association reshuffled its board in December 1998, transferring
leadership from government officials to the executives of mining
companies.

In the 1998 meeting, Wahyu, who is director of PT Ingold
Management, was chosen to replace director general of geology and
mineral resources Darmoko Slamet as association chairman.

Twenty board members -- all mining executives -- were chosen
to assist Wahyu.

The association also appointed a nine-strong board of patrons
headed by former minister of mines and energy M. Sadli.

IMA recently appointed a government official, Paul Louis
Coutrier, an executive director in charge of press and public
relations.

Coutrier served for many years at state oil and gas company
Pertamina and is a former deputy head of the Environmental Impact
Management Body, a position he held from 1990 to 1998.

Wahyu also said the association had launched its IMA-2000
program to improve its organization, including amending its
statute and making the election of board members more
transparent.

IMA has some 150 members, mostly foreign mining companies from
Canada, Australia and the United States. (jsk)