Govt will not rush to cancel Koba Tin's contract: Purnomo
Friday, January 5 2007 - 02:26 AM WIB
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said his office can't cancel the contract of work of Koba Tin in line with the presumption of innocence.
?Please investigate the case. If they are guilty and there is a firm (legal) decision (that Koba Tin is guilty), we will take action,? Purnomo said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
As long as there is no firm legal decision that Koba Tin has done wrong by buying ore from illegal miners, Purnomo said, the government will not cancel the Koba Tin's contract.
Director general of coal, minerals and geothermal Simon F Sembiring has also a similar view. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources can't interfere as long as the Koba Tin case is handled by the police. According to Simon, Koba Tin can take tin ore only from sub-contractor, which is in line with the contract of work.
?Taking of tin ore from outside its concession can't be allowed,? Simon said.
Earlier, Chief of the Indonesian Police Gen. Sutanto urged the government to cancel the contract of work (CoW) given to PT Koba Tin, saying that its CoW had expired and it bought tin ore from illegal miners.
Koba Tin, 75 percent owned by Malaysia Smelting Corp and 25 percent by state-owned tin miner PT Timah. (*)