KEM reaches another compensation agreement with local villagers
Tuesday, August 15 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
East Kalimantan gold mining giant PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM) reached on Sunday another land compensation agreement with the local villagers.
KEM public relations officer Kasan Mulyono was quoted by the local Kaltim Post daily as saying that the compensation agreement was reached during a meeting facilitated by the local West Kutai administration.
The agreement was on the compensation for land located in the company's mining site which was previously owned by the villagers. The company had earlier reached compensation agreement for the land used as the main access road of the company's operation. Kaltim Post said that for land size of between 1-100 square meters, the compensation was Rp 10,000 (US$1=Rp 8,300) per sqm, and for land size of 101-300 sqm, the compensation was Rp 5,000 per sqm. And for every extra sqm of land, the additional compensation would be Rp 2,000.
KEM is controlled by the world's mining giant group, Rio Tinto. The company has annual gold production of 13 tons of gold and employs around 1,050 people and 500 contractors.
The company was badly hit by road blockade by protesting villagers demanding additional land compensation. The months of road blockade had hurt KEM's operation. (*)