Newmont tax dispute should be handled by Tax Advisory Council

Antonius Sujata, the chairman of the Ombudsman Commission, the government's legal watch body, said on Tuesday that the tax dispute between Newmont Minahasa Raya and the local government should be handled by the Tax Advisory Council.

"The court's ruling against Newmont certainly contains a legal defect. The tax dispute should be handled by the Tax Advisory Council, not the court," he was quoted as saying by Detik.com news portal service.

Antonius, a former chief justice, added that Ombudsman had received a complaint from Newmont about the order issued by the Tondano court to temporarily shut down its gold mining and " we would soon meet the chief justice at the Supreme Court to talk the matter.

Supreme Court said earlier that it had sent a letter to the Tondano district court to delay the closure of the Newmont gold mining along before the issuance of the closure order.

But the lawyer representing the authority of the Minahasa authority, which sued Newmont over the company's refusal to pay the local tax, questioned the existence of the letter, which was issued by the Supreme Court to delay the closure order, Manado Post reported.

OC Kaligis, which represented the local government in the dispute, said he suspected the letter never existed. He also added that if the letter really existed, then the Minister of Mines and Energy should be held responsible. The issuance of the letter indicated that the minister broke its promise not to intervene in the court process. (*)