President SBY signs decree to deal with Newmont lawsuit

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has signed a presidential decree on the appointment of a special team to deal with the international arbitration filed by PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) against the government.

The Cabinet Secretary said in a statement quoting Coordinating Minister for the Economy Chairul Tanjung as saying that the President has also instructed to get the best lawyers to help the government in facing the lawsuit.

Chairul said that the President was disappointed with the move by NNT to file lawsuit at a time when the government and the company were still in negotiation process.

NNT) and its majority shareholder Nusa Tenggara Partnership BV (NTPBV), a Dutch entity, announced July 1 the filing of international arbitration against the Government of Indonesia to seek relief from export restrictions that have halted production at the Batu Hijau mine and inflicted hardship and economic loss on NNT?s employees, contractors, and other stakeholders.

The government?s imposition on PTNNT of new export conditions, a new export duty, and a new January 2017 ban on the export of copper concentrate violates the Contract of Work (CoW) and the bilateral investment treaty between Indonesia and the Netherlands. In the filing made with the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, PTNNT and NTPBV state their intention to request interim, injunctive relief to allow PTNNT to resume exporting copper concentrate so that Batu Hijau operations can be restarted. (8)

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak