Deputy regent says KPC will fully pay compensation to farmers
Monday, May 14 2001 - 04:00 AM WIB
The East Kutai regency in East Kalimantan insisted that coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) would pay full compensation to the villagers of Kebojaya of the Sangatta district for their farming land which had been allegedly polluted by the company, according to local daily Kaltim Post.
The paper quoted East Kutai's deputy regent Mahyudin ST as saying that under the agreement reached by KPC and the protesting farmers in a recent meeting facilitated by the regency, KPC would pay Rp 1.6 billion (US$1=Rp 11,208) in land compensation as demanded by the villagers.
The company however would pay the compensation in installment, Mahyudin said.
This contradicts the earlier statement made by KPC's external manager Mohammad Chairul that the company would pay a half of the compensation, that is Rp 789 million, in cash and the remaining half in the form of community development project.
KPC, which operates a huge coal mine in Sangatta, is equally owned by Anglo-American mining giant Rio Tinto and Anglo-American energy giant Beyond Petroleum (BP). (*)