Govt agrees to settle Buyat dispute through negotiation
Saturday, December 3 2005 - 02:13 AM WIB
State Minister of Environment Affairs Rachmat Witoelar said in Jakarta on Friday that his office had decided to choose to negotiate the case rather than to appeal to the upper court.
He, however, said that his office had not decided the amount of compensation it would seek from the pollution caused by Newmont's submarine waste disposal in the Buyat bay near its mining operation.
Meanwhile Newmont spokesman Rubi W. Purnomo said that no agreements had so far been made with the government in the negotiation process. But he hinted that the compensation sought by the government could be in form of cash or community development program.
The South Jakarta court dropped a civil suit filed by the state minister for environmental affairs recently against Newmont Minahasa Raya, saying the case should be taken to international arbitration. The government demanded compensation worth up to US$133 million in the suit.
The court said that the dispute between the government and the mining company should be settled through negotiation or be brought to international arbitration as stated in the contract signed with the company.
Rachmat said that the government had taken the initiative to negotiate the Buyat dispute because if it went to the arbitration body or to take an appeal to settle the case as proposed by the court,it would take long time.
He said that the trial process of Newmont's executives in Manado court would continue to go ahead despite his decision to return to the negotiation table. A number of Newmont's top executives are being tried in the Manado court for their alleged involvement in the Buyat pollution case. (*)