House speaker under fire over alleged profiteering attempt
Tuesday, November 17 2015 - 03:44 AM WIB
PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is currently negotiating with the government to extend its mining con-tract for one of the world?s largest gold and copper deposits in Papua.
Sudirman said the Golkar Party politician, along with a businessman, met several times with Freeport executives to offer the contract extension in return for 20 percent of the shares of PTFI given to Jokowi and Kalla.
?[Setya] also demanded shares in a power plant to be built in Timika [in Papua]. The politician asked PTFI to become an investor in the project as well as the buyer of the to-be-produced electricity,? he said, adding that the politician had demanded a 49-percent share in the project from Freeport.
He said he had strong grounds to file the breach of ethics report, as he had acquired all the information about the politician?s alleged maneuvers and the supporting evidence directly from PTFI executives.
Setya met with the company?s executives for a third time in June in the Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD) in Jakarta, during which the politician allegedly made the demands, claiming he had been sent by Jokowi and Kalla.
?Since I took the helm at the ministry, I always encourage PTFI executives to report to me every interaction they make with stakeholders in order to ensure that the decision to be made [on PTFI?s contract extension] follows a transparent process that is free from intervention by parties wanting to get personal benefits [out of the process],? Sudirman said.
PTFI has been seeking the government?s approval to extend its contract, which is set to expire in 2021. The extension request would guarantee its planned US$18 billion investment in underground mining and a copper smelter.
Problems have emerged because the company?s request goes against a 2010 government regulation on mineral resources and coal operations. The regulation stipulates that any extension application can only be lodged, at the earliest, two years prior to the expiry of a contract.
If the company complied with the regulation, it would only be able to apply for the extension in 2019, when Indonesia will hold both legislative and presidential elections, and issues related to Freeport could be politically sensitive.
Setya has denied the allegations, adding that he had never used Jokowi?s or Kalla?s name in any assignment in his capacity as House Speaker.
MKD deputy chairman Junimart Girsang said Sudirman had submit-ted a transcript of a conversation between the politician and Freeport Indonesia executives, adding that the council would examine the validity of the report before making a decision on whether to follow up or not. ?The recording of the conversation will be submitted later [by Sudirman]. The verification process will take 14 days; after that an investigation on the matter is to be decided,? Junirmart said on Monday.
PTFI spokesman Riza Pratama refused to comment. ?I don?t know about [the meetings], and it is the domain of the government,? he told The Post. (*)