House speaker backs Freeport's operation

Copper and gold mine giant Freeport Indonesia has received a strong support from speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Agung Laksono amid the growing protests against the company's tailing dumping ground.

Agung told Koran Tempo daily on Friday that Freeport should be allowed to continue its operation because its presence was still needed to raise the country's export earnings and more importantly to fill in the gap in the state budget.

"The mining sector remains important in raising foreign exchange reserve," he was quoted as saying. He made his statement in response to the demand of local non-governmental organization to close the company's gold mines in Papua.

Chalid Muhammad, the director of Walhi, a prominent environmental advocacy agency in Indonesia, said earlier that Freeport's tailing dumping ground near its mining area had seriously damaged the environment. He, therefore, called on the government to close down the company's operation.

"If there is something wrong with Freeport, there should be a solution to put it on the right track," Agung said, adding that the closure of the mining company's operation would only cause a bigger problem.

He, however, called on a tighter control against the company's gold shipment from its mining area. "There should more control against possible manipulation of the company's export data or possible smuggling practices," he added. (*)