Rio Tinto has no objection against plans to introduce neutral party in resolving divestment dispute

President of PT Rio Tinto Indonesia Noke Kiroyan said that he had no objection against the government plans to introduce a third party to help resolve the long dispute over the divestment program of East Kalimantan coal giant firm PT Kaltim Prima Coal.

However, Noke warned that the "referee" should be able to act fairly and neutral.

"I have just heard of the plans. But if it is an option to be implemented by the government please go ahead. We'll support. But we expect the third party to be able to act fairly," he told reporters late on Tuesday during an industry gathering.

Director general of mining Surna T. Djajadiningrat plans to appoint a referee in the near future to help accelerate the divestment plans of KPC.

KPC is jointly owned by Rio Tinto and BP (beyond petroleum). KPC is required to divest its stake to local investors this year. KPC said that according to its contract with the government, the divestment this year was 37 percent stake. But the East Kalimantan administration, which has the top priority to purchase the shares, demanded KPC to divest up to 51 percent stake.

The government latter came up with a proposal for KPC to divest up to 44 percent, but this was neglected by the company.

Noke insisted that according to the contract KPC was only required to divest 37 percent this year. He said that the company would hold on to this contract. "We want legal certainty," he said. (R. Amoros)