East Kalimantan legislators to be more ?flexible? over KPC divestment

The special team of the East Kalimantan provincial legislative council assigned to monitor the divestment program of coal mining giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) will from now on be more ?flexible,? according to team secretary Andi Harun.

Andi was quoted by the local Kaltim Post daily as saying that the legislators would focus more on persuasive approach.

?If this year it (the divestment program) can not be implemented, it?s all right. But East Kalimantan must receive dividend at (the next) annual shareholders meeting,? he said.

KPC is obliged to divest up to 51 percent shares to the East Kalimantan administration. But the divestment program could not be implemented until now due to various differences between the two sides. Negotiation has been going on for nearly two years, causing some legislators and government officials to be frustrated. Recently the council?s special team urged the government to withdraw the KPC contract if the company declined to show good will over the divestment issue.

The remaining major stumbling block now is over the price of the shares. Earlier this week, East Kalimantan proposed that the price for 44 percent stake to be based on the result of a meeting with KPC on October 26, 2000, while the price for the remaining 7 percent stake to be negotiated. No response yet from KPC.(*)