KPC sees force majeure as last resort
Protesting employees running out of supplies
Thursday, June 29 2000 - 02:15 AM WIB
President of coal giant firm PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) Grant Thorne said in a statement on Wednesday that the company had no immediate plans to ask to the government to put the mining operation under a force majeure status.
"This will be the last resort, and the possibility (to ask for a force majeure) is still far away," Thorne was quoted as saying by the Neraca daily.
He was responding to earlier reports that the East Kalimantan-based KPC was seeking for a force majeure status on the prospect that the company might not be able to deliver coal products to overseas buyers on time due to employee demonstration. A failure to honor the export contract would force the company to pay a penalty.
KPC is jointly owned by mining giants Rio Tinto and British Petroleum.
Thorne said that the KPC coal stock at the exporting port had depleted, causing the company to be unable to deliver coal products to foreign buyers on time.
He said that the protesting employees since June 14 had stopped the operation of the company's conveyor belt, disrupting the transfer of coal from the mining operation to the local exporting port.
Thorne admitted that the company would seek ways to minimize commercial losses, but quickly added that imposing a force majeure status was the last resort.
Meanwhile, the local East Kalimantan Kaltim Post daily reported that the protesting employees was running out of food and other basic supplies. The paper said that the company had shut down the only access to the mining operation site, where some 150 protesting employees staged their protest for a higher salary.
The paper said that every time one of the protesters went out to purchase food, they were not allowed to reenter to rejoin the protest.
The protesters vowed to continue their protest despite the lack of food supply. (*)