Closure order against Newmont has legal defect
Thursday, April 13 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
The order of the district court in Tondano, Minahasa regency, North Sulawesi to close down the gold mine of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) has a legal defect because the chief of Supreme Court Sarwata had asked the court to delay the closure along before it issued its order, Kompas reported on Thursday.
Director for governmental relations and general affairs of Newmont Pacific Nusantara Sutan Simanjuntak told the daily on Wednesday that the Supreme Court sent a letter to district court on January 22 demanding it to delay the closure order.
" The Supreme Court sent the letter to the court due to our concern on the negative impact of the closure to the mining company," he said following a meeting with the secretary general of the Supreme Court Sorta Edwin.
Simanjuntak and some of senior executives of Newmont Pasific Nusantara, a company that oversees Newmont operations in Indonesia, joined on Wednesday the protest staged by NMR workers against the closure order. They also met House members to express their protest against the closure.
The closure of the Newmont operation in Minahasa has drown a wide criticism from larger parts of the society - from Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, almost all Cabinet ministers, economic observers and the common people.
Vice President ordered the Cabinet on Wednesday to immediately settle the Newmont case so that the image of the country's investment would not get worse, Media Indonesia reported.
Speaking to reporters following a meeting with the Vice President, Minister of Mines and Eenergy said that Mrs Megawati had asked the Cabinet to settle the case amicably or through a procedure stipulated in the Contracts of Work signed with the mining company.
According to the contracts, if the dispute could not be settled through negotiations, it should be taken to an international arbitration.
State Minister of Investment and State Enterprises Development Laksamana Sukardi said that he was also really concerned about the Tondano court's decision. " Our image has been greatly tarnished," he was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.
The closure order relates to a disputed claim by the Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi that Newmont Minahasa Raya owes taxes on overburden, the waste rock and soil removed in order to access the gold-bearing ore. Newmont's Contract of Work with the government of Indonesia excludes taxes on overburden, a position supported by the Indonesian Department of Mines and Energy (DOME).
On January 22 the Tondano District Court granted the regional government's request for a provisional judgment to shut down the mine. On March 6, the Manado High Court affirmed the decision, permitting the shutdown order that the Tondano court issued on April 8. (*)