Mass organizations will not blockade shipment of KPC coal: Executive

Coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) said on Tuesday it feels sure East Kalimantan mass organizations will not materialize their plan of blockading coal shipment by the company from East Kalimantan if 51 percent of KPC shares are not divested to the province by end June.

?I am fully sure that Alpera will not carry out anarchic activities and blockade the coal shipment. They are independent and professional organizations,? KPC president director Noke Kiroyan said as reported by East Kalimantan-based Kaltim Post daily.

Alpera stands for Alliance of East Kutai People?s Sruggles, which comprises no less than 10 mass organizations.

Recently Alpera threatened to blockade the shipment of KPC?s coal from Sangatta in East Kutai where the company operates a huge coalmine. It set June 30 as deadline for KPC to sell 51 percent of its shares to the East Kalimantan provincial administration.

The central government expects KPC?s shareholders Rio Tinto and BP PLC to officially offer the 51 percent stake in the company on July 1, and the central authorities have said they would then distribute it to state enterprises, the East Kalimantan administration and Indonesian private firms.

East Kalimantan insists that it become the preferred bidder for KPC shares.

The East Kalimantan administration last year sued KPC shareholders for US$776 million in the South Jakarta district court in compensation for their delay to sell KPC shares to the province. It has not withdrawn its lawsuit, thus allowing the court to continue holding the assets of KPC shareholders.

Meanwhile, KPC shareholders insist the share divestment plan can be materialized only after their legal dispute with E. Kalimantan has been resolved.

KPC exports substantial volumes of coal to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. (*)