Tapping of wealth in Irian Jaya
In his letter Freeport's social commitment (Sept. 19), Mr. Edward J. Pressman, in response to my letter Face responsibility to change (Sept. 16), asks for the facts behind my statement that one of "the main causes of famine in Irian Jaya is the exploitation of its wealth by Freeport." The fact is, that Irian Jaya Governor Mr. Freddy Numberi, made the following statement in The Jakarta Post article (Sept. 8) about the causes of the famine. I quote: "All this time the results of the (exploitation) of Irian Jaya's resources have all been funneled to (Jakarta). So the Irianese are now facing the threat of poverty," he was quoted by Antara as saying.
The Jakarta Post article continues: "He (Governor Numberi) also said billions of U.S. dollars from the province were absorbed by the central government and others. He also pointed out how American gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia -- which makes US$1.5 billion annually -- has increased its monthly production of 150,000 tons of ore to 300,000 tons."
"Imagine if only $1 billion, or Rp 11 trillion of this money, was given by the central government to the province. Our people would be prosperous, we could even help people from other provinces...so we wouldn't need loans from the IMF," he said. These facts speak for themselves. The governor believes the people of Irian Jaya can do a better job of taking care of themselves with their own resources than can either far off Jakarta or Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Mr. Pressman claims that I have made "grossly uninformed statements." On the contrary, I have the facts before me in many headlines and articles from The Jakarta Post over the last ten years that I have lived and worked in Indonesia. Some examples are "What has gone wrong with PT freeport" by T. Mulya Lubis; Freeport told to respond to concerns (Dec. 6, 1995. In 1995, PT Freeport's declared net profits were 222 million dollars, and they paid 200 million in taxes. It is one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world, with reserves of 1.1 billion tons of ore. Governor Numberi said that they are now making $1.5 billion American dollars annually.
But the real fact is that not one ounce of that ore belongs to Freeport. This wealth, and the natural resources in Irian Jaya, are the God-given birth right and inheritance of the Papuans, not the Americans.
The relationship between Freeport and the Indonesian military in Irian Jaya over the past 30 years reveals a symbiosis of exploitation which is one of the most obvious rapes and plunders of natural resources of any people of any nation at any time in world history.
Mr. Pressman says that I have "erred because I don't know the facts." On the contrary, I have been in those upland regions of Jaya Wijaya. I wonder if Mr. Pressman has? Has he seen the thousands of people still living in stone-age conditions there? Has he been inside their honi (little round huts)? Has he watched their naked bodies shiver with malaria in the unkempt "hospitals" which are without doctors, dentists, X-ray machines, or operating rooms?
The simple fact is Indonesia now has a severe economic crisis, with many starving to death. Indonesia needs the finances from its own natural resources to feed its people.
DAN ADAMS
Jakarta