Gunung Bayan stops coal mining operations due to protests
Tuesday, February 5 2008 - 04:59 AM WIB
The newspaper said that the protesters coming from a number of districts around the mining site closed the access roads to the mining area on Monday after GBPC and its partner PT Jaya Sampilas Indonesia (JSI) refused to give their steel scraps piled up in the mining area to the local residents.
The closure of the access roads had brought the company's mining operation to a standstill as all the excavators were not able to enter the mining area to conduct mining activities.
The protesters had also demanded GBP management to show their actual production during the period of between 1999 and 2007 and its export contract with a Singaporean company to the local administration.
"The documents are important to find out if the company has really paid royalty of 13.5 percent as stated in the Presidential Decree No 49, 1981," said the coordinator of the protesters, Nartim.
The local residents also demanded the company not to use the trans Kalimantan highway in transporting its coal and to stop its coal port in Ulaq Muara Pahu for not having a proper permit.
When contacted by Petromindo.Com on Tuesday, PT Bayan Group's commissioner Michael Sumarijanto said activities at the mining site continued.
"Maybe, transportation is facing some problems," he said.
GBPC located in West Kutai regency is unit of PT Bayan Goup which belongs to Malaysian businessman Dato Low Tuck Kwong. GBPC has planned to produce four million tons of coal in this year. (godang)