Antam ordered to pay US$4.2 million in damage

Publicly listed general mining company PT Aneka Tambang has been ordered by local court to pay US$4.2 million or equivalent to Rp 36 billion in damage to construction company PT Hardy and Kee Engineering for unilaterally annulling the contract to construct its port in Gebe island near its mining operation in Sulawesi.

Sources told Neraca daily, the company has never informed the investing public about the court order, which was issued on December 7, last year. "It seems that the company tried to cover up the damage that it should pay to the contractor," the source added.

The source said that the general mining company should inform shareholders about the court order and if it is necessary the case should be discussed in the company's forthcoming shareholders meeting. "It is not a small issue, the investing public have the rights to know details of the compensation that the company ordered to pay," he added.

PT Hardy and Kee Engineering filed a legal suit against the mining company, last year for unilaterally annulling the contract to build a port in the Gebe island and demanded the company to pay damages against the material and non-materials loss it suffered due to the cut in the contract.

The source questioned why Aneka Tambang seemed to give a little effort to fight the legal suit, given the fact that the legal suit taken by construction company, which is partly owned by former minister of mines and energy, was not so "difficult" to handle.

He said he feared that Aneka Tambang gave no effort to win the legal battle due to the involvement of the former mine and energy minister in the case. But he did not name which ministers he referred to. (*)