Regional governments seek new partner to buy Newmont shares
Thursday, November 17 2011 - 04:05 AM WIB
Andi Hadianto, president director of PT Daerah Maju Bersaing (DMB), a regional enterprise formed by the three regions, said its current partner, PT Multicapital, a business unit of Bakrie Group, stated that it had no interest in the 7 percent stake.
?We?re waiting for offers from new partners, but we hope that the terms and conditions at minimum are the same as those with our partnership with Multicapital when we purchased the 24 percent stake in NNT,? he said.
The government through the state investment arm Pusat Investasi Pemerintah (PIP) earlier had signed an agreement to buy the 7 percent divested stake.
However, the stake purchase has yet to be effective pending approval from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
Furthermore, the stake purchase by PIP is currently in limbo following the Supreme Audit Agency?s (BPK) audit result saying that the purchase violated the 2003 State Budget Law and the 2004 Treasury Law. The laws stipulate that the purchase, which used state funds, should have first be approved by the House of Representatives.
A legislator at House Commission XI overseeing the state budget, Harry Azhar Azis from the Golkar Party, hailed the BPK?s audit result, saying that the Finance Ministry should seek approval from the House before buying the final 7 percent stake.
Director for Minerals at the Directorate General for Minerals and Coal, Dede Ida Suhendra, admitted that the Ministry had received a letter from the House saying that the transaction between PIP and NNT should have obtained prior approval of the House as the purchase used State's fund.
In a separate development, some 400 Newmont Nusa Tenggara?s workers on Wednesday conducted a strike demanding the company to clarify overtime payment. Newmont spokesperson Rubi Purnomo reported that the strike did not disturb the company?s production activities. (*)