Minahasa regent meets secretary general of Ministry, Djoko, over Newmont case
Wednesday, April 19 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
The regent of Minahasa has met the secretary general of Mines and Energy Ministry Djoko Darmono to question the ministry's support to PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) in its dispute with the regency administration, Media Indonesia reported on Wednesday.
The regent's meeting was also joined by other senior officials from the Minahasa regency and a member of the House of Representatives Yoseph Umar Hadi.
Speaking to the press after the meeting on Tuesday, Yoseph said that the regent questioned the director general over the central government's partial support to the gold mine operator, which has been involved in a legal battle with the local government due to the latter's refusal to pay the local tax.
Last week the Supreme Court sent a letter to the local court and asked it to delay the execution of its provisional order to shut down the company's gold mine operation. The court and the local government believed that the Supreme Court's intervention was made due to the ministry's demand.
The dispute started when Minahasa regency administration filed a lawsuit against Newmont at the Tondano District Court last year, demanding the company pay Rp 62 billion (US$8.2 million) in overdue taxes and compensation following the company's refusal to pay taxes on its overburden. Newmont at first refused to pay the taxes, arguing taxes on the overburden were not included in its contract of work.
The company later agreed to pay the administration Rp 552.6 billion, but the regency turned down the offer despite pressure from the central government to accept it.
At the request of the regency administration, the district court ordered Newmont to temporarily close down its mining operation, giving it until Monday to carry out the order. The closure order was later delayed due to the Supreme Court's decision.
Yoseph said that executives of Newmont and senior officials from the regency were scheduled to hold a meeting today (Wednesday) to find a win-win solution to settle the tax dispute. (*)