Govt has formed renegotiation team for Freeport contract: NGO

A non-governmental organization claimed that the government has formed a team to renegotiate the contract of works (CoW) held by PT Freeport Indonesia which is operating huge copper and gold mines in Papua, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

Coordinator of the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) Siti Maemunah, who claimed to have seen the document on the formation of the renegotiation team obtained from the office of Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said the renegotiation team would be chaired by J.B. Sumarlin, who held various ministerial positions during former President Soeharto?s era.

He will be assisted by Victor Purba, a law professor at the University of Indonesia, as deputy chairman.

?With regards Freeport, (contract) renegotiation is not enough. There is a violation of law related to environmental pollution. As such, (Freeport?s mines) should be closed prior to the negotiation,? Maemunah said.

A senior official at the office of State Minister of Environment, who wanted to remain anonymous, confirmed about the existence of the document, while saying he was puzzled over the fact that none of environmental experts were included in the team.

Director general of mineral, coal and geothermal resources Simon F. Sembiring, who lead the government?s evaluation team on Freeport, denied there was such a document. He also said he had no idea if the government had planned to form such a team. Deputy Coordinating Minister of the Economy for energy, mineral resources and forestry Wimpy S. Tjetjep also denied the existence of the document. (*)