Chief economic minister suggests PTFI to resume production

By Bambang Atmaja

Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa suggested for the resumption of production at open-pit mine of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) in Papua to avoid situation of thousands of workers not working for too long which could lead to lay off.

The minister stressed, however, that the production activity at the open pit mine must comply with aspects of safety.

"It is better for the production activities (at the open-pit mine) to resume so that the workers can immediately start working,? Hatta told Petromindo.com Wednesday. "I am only concerned with the fate of the thousands of workers," he added.

But the minister agreed that the suspension of production activity at the underground mine should be maintained pending the completion of an investigation into the collapse last month of an underground mine tunnel.

The government suspended the production activity at the entire PTFI operation in Papua, which operates a massive gold and copper mine, following the incident, which killed 28 workers. The firm resumed operation at the open-pit mine on May 30, but then the energy and mineral resources ministry demanded the closure of the mine following another accident that killed one worker.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak