NGOs reject negotiator team linked to KEM

Two leading non-governmental organizations (NGOs) called Jatam and LKMTL rejected the Tim Murni negotiator team that is supposed to represent the Kelian villagers of the West Kutai regency in East Kalimantan to negotiate compensation for their land which had been acquired by gold giant PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM).

Jatam and LKMTL suspected that the Tim Murni negotiator team was linked to KEM which would only benefit the latter in the negotiation process.

Jatam local coordinator Ramli was quoted by the local Samarinda Post (Sapos) daily as saying that the Tim Murni people got their authority by forcing the villagers through the village chief and village informal leader.

"And there's even a special approach to villagers who can't read and write," Ramli said.

"The negotiation between KEM and the Tim Murni negotiator team will certainly be easy because the team was formed by KEM itself. I smell something fishy going on," said LKMTL executive director Pius Erick Nyompe.

The people of the Kelian area had earlier blockaded the only access road to KEM in the Kelian area as they demanded the company to pay compensation for the land acquired by the company in the early 1990s. The months of road blockade had caused serious disruption to KEM's gold operation.

The road blockade had been recently ended following a round of negotiation facilitated by the West Kutai regency. The company agreed to pay for the compensation.

But the formation of the Tim Murni negotiator allegedly linked to KEM might cause new trouble. (*)