Irian, Riau groups demand share of mining royalties

JAKARTA (JP): Several non-governmental groups have demanded that the government split earnings from mining, oil and gas operations in Irian Jaya and Riau with the two provinces.

Dozens of Irianese students and the noted leader of the Amungme tribe Tom Baenal told Minister of Mines and Energy Kuntoro Mangkusubroto at his office yesterday that the people of Indonesia's easternmost province had not benefited from the development of massive mining operations in their region.

"(Copper and gold company) PT Freeport Indonesia has been exploiting our natural resources for 30 years, but we still live poor lives. Are we going to be in a similar position in 30 years time?" Baenal asked.

The Amungme are one of several tribes which inhabit the area around Freeport's Grasberg mining contract area.

Freeport Indonesia is a subsidiary of American company Freeport McMoRan Gold and Copper Inc.

A day earlier Kuntoro received a 25-strong delegation from a group called the Riau People's Association for Reform which demanded that 10 percent of the government's earnings from the operations of oil company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia be given to the province.

The funds would be used to speed up development in the province, the group said.

Caltex produces 60 percent of the country's oil output of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd).

"Caltex has been developing our oil resources for 50 years but many people in Riau still live in poverty," delegation member Thamrin Nasution said.

Kuntoro acknowledged that the government should pass a law allowing provinces to receive a share of the royalties from the exploitation of their own natural resources.

The central government currently collects all royalties and taxes from mining, oil and gas operations and pools them in the state budget before redistributing them among all the provinces with little regard to their respective contributions to the budget.

Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who accompanied the students also protested at the activities of two mining companies, PT Montaque Mimika and PT Nabire Bhakti Mining, which are currently prospecting inside the Lorentz nature reserve in Irian Jaya. The NGOs included the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Telapak, ELSAM, Fokker LSM Irian Jaya, BIOFORUM and Japama.

Kuntoro said the areas for which mining contracts had been issued did not lie in the Lorentz reserve until the Ministry of Forestry enlarged the conservation area.

He also said the companies' exploratory activities would not necessarily be followed by exploitative operations.

"The Ministry of Forestry could forbid the companies from mining inside the reserve to protect the area," Kuntoro said. (jsk)