Purnomo wants Karaha Bodas case be part of talks with Colin Powell

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Wednesday he would ask Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayudha to include Karaha Bodas case in their talks with his U.S. counterpart Colin Powell who is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Friday for an official visit.

?We need diplomatic steps concerning the Karaha Bodas case. I will propose to the Foreign Minister to include the case in talks with the U.S. official,? Purnomo told reporters.

The Indonesian government and Pertamina have been involved in a legal battle with Cayman Islands- registered Karaha Bodas Company (KBC) over a geothermal power project in Karaha Bodas village in West Java. KBC is principally controlled by two US companies ? Florida Power Energy LLC and Caithness Energy LLC.

A Switzerland-based arbitration panel in 2000 ordered Pertamina to pay KBC a total of US$261.1 million in compensation for the suspension by the government of its Karaha Bodas power project.

The Indonesian government refused to follow the arbitration panel?s order arguing that the $261.1 million was unreasonable and that the project suspension had been force majeur as Indonesia was then hit by severe economic crisis. The project was suspended in 1999. (godang)