Sudjana replaces director general handling Busang

JAKARTA (JP): The director general of general mining, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, was sacked yesterday but the minister of mines and energy, I.B. Sudjana, said the dismissal was not linked to his handling of the controversial Busang gold field.

Sudjana also replaced the director general of electricity and energy development, Zuhal. But public attention has focused mostly on Kuntoro's removal.

Kuntoro, who was appointed as director general of general mining in 1993, was the top official authorized to grant final contracts of work for mining companies to start production.

He was the key person in handling the Busang gold field in East Kalimantan before and after reserves were found by Canadian exploration firm Bre-X.

"His replacement is not connected to his handling of Busang gold field. It is only part of his official tour of duty," Sudjana said.

Kuntoro was replaced by the former director general of geology and mineral resources, Adjat Sudradjat, while Zuhal was replaced by the former director of energy development, Endro Utomo Notodisuryo.

Kuntoro and Zuhal's dismissals were based on an April 2 presidential decree.

The decree also appointed the former director for the guidance of mining companies, Rozik B. Soetjipto, as new director general of geology and mineral resources in place of Adjat.

But Adjat would retain his position until Rozik returned from his haj pilgrimage, Sudjana said.

He said President Soeharto approved the shake up after considering the proposal from himself and the advice of the national assessment body for official positions headed by Vice President Try Sutrisno.

"So the decision is not based purely on my proposal. So, I hope you don't politicize it," he said.

Sudjana said he had no idea about the positions reserved for Kuntoro and Zuhal, but indicated they might resume teaching at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Sudjana praised Kuntoro and Zuhal's achievements.

Zuhal, who was appointed director general of electricity and energy development in 1995, managed to negotiate the cut in the selling price of power from private generators to the state-owned electricity company PLN to below 6 U.S. cents a kilowatt hour (kWh) from above 8 cents a kWh during his predecessor's tenure.

Sudjana hinted that Kuntoro's office had failed to make the rules clear for exploration activities and hoped his successor could redeem the failure.

"Adjat Sudradjat has the strong vision necessary to bring order to the regulations as well as to the rule of the game for exploration activities in general mining," he said.

"The current regulations and rules of the game mostly concern exploitation and production activities."

Although Sudjana refused to elaborate but analysts said he was referring to the Busang controversy.

Bre-X said last month the Busang field might contain 70.9 million ounces of gold, making it the century's biggest gold find. But Bre-X later said it might have overstated the amount.

An independent team is analyzing samples from Busang and the results are expected next month.

Sudjana said the government had complete data on Busang's gold deposits but refused to reveal it.

He said speculation that Busang's gold reserves were insignificant was untrustworthy. (jsk)