Police stops plans to evict people from IMK's mining site

Central Kalimantan Police Chief Col. Bugis M. Saman decided on Friday to stop the "sweeping" plans to force people out of the mining site of gold mining company PT Indo Muro Kencana (IMK) following massive protest.

But Bugis was also quoted by the Banjarmasin Post daily as saying his decision hinged on the cooperation of the people.

"We'll stop the sweeping, but only if people do not reenter the location which has been secured by the Police," he said.

Thousands of people occupied the mining site of IMK. The Police managed to force many of them out of the site. The security force planned to hold a second round of cleaning up today.

But the plan was widely protested by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), students and the public.

In Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan, several NGOs and students organizations held a protest on Friday at the provincial police headquarters.

The protesters warn that applying force in resolving the IMF dispute would only worsen the problem.

Bugis later decided to meet the protesters. He then promised to stop the plans to use force against the people. "But if the people starts a violent act, the security force would act accordingly."

Separately, the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) distributed pamphlets in Jakarta to garner support to protest the use of security force in resolving the IMK dispute. (*)