KEM reaches another agreement with local villagers
Thursday, June 22 2000 - 03:00 AM WIB
The giant gold mining firm in East Kalimantan, PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM), has reached on Wednesday another agreement with the local protesting villagers to pay some Rp 3.75 million for each house unit.
The houses were located on the land taken over by KEM in the past to be part of its mining concession area.
"This agreement and the previous one has shown KEM's commitment to settle the compensation dispute through a negotiation to reach a fair deal for all sides," said acting KEM president Jan Andersen.
KEM reached an agreement on May 16 over the compensation for land taken over by the company.
The local villagers of the Kelian area had demanded the company to pay additional compensation for their land, house buildings, and plantations taken over by the company. They said that the first compensation package gave by the company in the past was not enough.
The villagers had closed the only road access to KEM's mining operation for 40 days, causing the company to be unable to deliver basis supplies to continue its operation.
But the villagers reopened the road access after the company vowed to negotiate their demand.
KEM and the villagers are scheduled to meet again to negotiate for the compensation of another parcel of land. (*)