District attorney office to summon KPC officials

The East Kutai District Attorney Office in East Kalimantan vows to summon top officials of the coal mining giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) over delay in its divestment program, the local Kaltim Post daily reported Saturday.

The planned move by the district attorney followed last year?s complaint filed by the East Kalimantan provincial administration that KPC management had deliberately delayed the divestment obligation.

The local government said that KPC had breached its mining contract, which stipulates that it must divest up to 51 percent stake to the Indonesian government or local buyers after 10 years of operation. This should have been implemented last year.

The East Kutai district attorney office had formed a special team, to handle the KPC case, led by deputy intelligent Andi Sjalahuddin.

Andi told the newspaper that the team would try hard to summon and question the KPC top officials. He said that his office had found difficulties to summon the officials because they?re not stationed in East Kutai.

?But we?ll make a maximum effort to summon them,? he said.

Andi said that the team had already questioned KPC president Noke Kiroyan.

KPC, equally owned by Rio Tinto and BP Plc., operates a vast mining site in Sangatta area, in East Kutai regency. After failing to meet an end of March deadline, the KPC management and the central government agreed on a new end of June deadline.

The East Kalimantan administration has demanded it becomes the preferred bidder for the 51 percent KPC stake. But KPC insists that according to its contract, there?s no obligation to sell the stake to a preferred bidder. KPC wants to hold an open tender for the 51 percent shares.(*)