Freeport to increase funding for community, environmental development
Wednesday, June 21 2000 - 02:45 AM WIB
Mining company PT Freeport Indonesia plans to increase contributions to the local community in remote Irian Jaya province, says Mines and Energy Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"Proposals have been conveyed to the government which are quite significant...in terms of funding and range of community development projects. We are still negotiating," he told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
Yudhoyono said Freeport would set aside one percent of the firm's gross revenue for community development during the life of its giant copper and gold mining operation in the province where many people still practice stone-age lifestyles.
This would amount to some US$15 million each year, said Yudhoyono, speaking in the West Java town of Bandung.
Freeport already provides one percent of its gross revenue for community development, but such funding would expire after 10 years several under an earlier agreement.
Other funding proposals involved land reclamation, improving the environment, building a technology institute and a center dedicated to human rights, Yudhoyono said.
"As a minister I encourage community development in accordance with people's aspirations," he added.
According to Director General of General Mining Surna Surna T Djajadiningrat Freeport has agreed to build a technology institute in Timika. "Freeport will cooperate with Cendrawasih University in Jayapura," Surna said in Tembagapura, Irian Jaya.
Yudhoyono also said Freeport had also come up with a proposal to repair and strengthen the company's Lake Wanagon waste dump.
On May 4 a landslide of waste from the mine triggered flooding down an adjacent valley, killing four workers.
Freeport has agreed to temporarily limit production at its Grasberg copper and gold mine to an average of 200,000 tons of ore per day since the accident.
A Freeport executive confirmed the proposals had been submitted to the government, but declined to give details. Freeport, which employs 16,000 people, says it has been assisting Indonesia's development.
Yudhoyono also brushed aside suggestions from non-governmental organizations that the mine be shut.
"For the government, we cannot quickly take decisions to close businesses in this country...We have to look at the business climate and the fate of thousands of workers," he said. (*)