Review all mining contract of works

Experts said that the government should not only focus on reviewing the contract of work (COW) of gold mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia, but must also review all mining COWs to maintain fairness.

Executive director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) Mas Achmad Santosa, and deputy director of the Indonesian Forum on Environment or Walhi Suwiryo Ismail were quoted by the daily Kompas as saying that the review should focus on the aspects of environment, socio-economic, and the prospect of a greater national ownership in the foreign investment companies.

"It's not fair if the government only review the COW of Freeport. Basically, all the existing COWs have not accommodated the spirit of the 1992 Rio de Jeneiro declaration on environment protection," Santosa said.

Meanwhile, Suwiryo disagreed on suggestion that the review of the COWs would affect foreign investment prospect in the country.

The government is currently reviewing the contract of Freeport after the company had been alleged of environmental destruction. The company had also been alleged of involved in collusion, nepotism and corruption practices including when it obtained the contract. (*)