Minahasa opposes Supreme Court's order
Friday, April 14 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
The Tondano court in Minahasa, North Sulawesi has opposed the Supreme Court's request to delay the execution of its order shutting down PT Newmont Minahasa Raya's gold mine, Media Indonesia reported on Friday.
The head of the court Susmono said he determined to go ahead with his order to temporarily close down the company's gold mine until the court came with its final verdict. "The court proceedings would continue as initially scheduled. For sure, I have not received any letter from the Supreme Court," he added.
The local legislators also questioned the Supreme Court's intervention in the Minahasa case and supported the local court's determination to go ahead with the case despite the Chief Justice Sarwata's letter.
Supreme Court Chief Justice sent a letter to the head of the Tondano District on Tuesday and asked him to delay the execution of its order shutting down Newmont gold mine, according to The Jakarta Post.
Richard Ness, the president of the company, said on Thursday the Supreme Court's decision was a victory for the people and economy of Minahasa regency.
"This is a victory for the 2,800 Minahasa residents who depend on our operation for their livelihood and would have been put out of work by the Minahasa regent's determination to close the mine," he said in a statement.
The district court issued a provisional ruling last Saturday ordering the temporary closure of Newmont's mine over a tax dispute between Minahasa regency and the company. The court's order was issued after a joint verification team comprising local officials, officials from the Ministry of Mines and Energy and Newmont executives failed to reach an out-of-court settlement.
The Minahasa regency sued Newmont for a total of Rp 19 billion (US$2.4 million) in taxes on the overburden it extracted from 1995 to 1998. Newmont refused to pay, saying the taxes were not included in its contract of work and that it had extracted the overburden to access the gold deposit underneath.
Under local tax regulations, mining companies are obliged to pay taxes on gravel, sand and stone extracted and commercially used. The regency believes Newmont commercially used the overburden it extracted. (*)