Pertamina's workers send letter to Megawati on Karaha project
Monday, May 20 2002 - 03:13 PM WIB
?With such a team, the government can be expected to get a correct picture of the entering of Karaha Bodas Corporation into Indonesia?s power sector,? said the spokesman of Pertamina?s labor union, Firdaus Ibrahim, according to Detik-com.
The team should also be tasked with examining and valuing all aspects of the Karaha project, and the amounts already used by the Cayman Islands-registered company for it, Firdaus said.
But Firdaus did not say when they sent their letter to the President.
Pertamina has been involved in a heated legal battle against Karaha which had accused the Indonesian government of one-sidedly suspending its West Java project in 1998.
A Switzerland-based arbitration panel has awarded Karaha US$261 million in compensation for the project costs and the loss of future profits related to the project suspension.
Following the arbitration decision, a U.S. court ordered Bank of America to freeze around $130 million worth of funds believed to belong to Pertamina.
Meanwhile, Pertamina workers? move was apparently aimed to support the steps planned by their company to fight Karaha.
Recently, Pertamina president director Baihaki Hakim said it would soon appoint an independent auditor to examine the Karaha Bodas geothermal project so as to determine whether Karaha?s $261 million award was reasonable. (*)