Inco urged to open mining concession, or loses contract

The head of the legislative council of South Sulawesi province has urged nickel-mining operator PT Inco to open its 32,000-hectare concession in Bahodopi or loses its contract.

The council's head Helmy Yambas said that the nickel company, a subsidiary of the Canadian mining giant Inco Corporation had intentionally used the nickel rich concession area as land reserve for the company.

"We suspect, Inco will use the concession area as collateral to secure its debts in a bank," he was quoted as saying by Bisnis Indonesia daily on Saturday.

He warned that if the company continued to neglect the concession area, the local government would be asked to unilaterally cut the contract given to the company to develop the mine area.

According to Helmy, the contribution of PT Inco in the local revenues is still relatively small if compared to the large size of its mining concession. This year, the mining company only contributed about Rp 2.3 billion, mostly in the form of property tax.

"Its contribution is less than significant to boost the province's original income," he added. (*)