SBY vows to solve problems at Freeport mine

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed to address allegations a massive U.S-owned gold mine in Papua province was polluting the environment, but said Monday it was impossible to close the mine down as some protesters have been demanding, AP reported.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc is also accused of not sharing enough of the proceeds from the massive mine with local people in the province, which is home to long-running separatist conflict.

Protesters citing the two allegations have rallied in several towns across Indonesia in recent weeks.

"We will try to solve this (the Freeport) case as well as possible so that nobody is hurt," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told government officials and ministers in a speech in Jakarta. He did not elaborate.

"But if we unilaterally close down Grasberg, we'll be taken to the antitrust court where we'll certainly lose and we'll have to pay billions of dollars (in legal damages)," Yudhoyono said. The New Orleans-based company denies polluting the environment in Papua.

It started mining in 1972 and has a 50-year contract. Last year, it paid US$1.2 billion in taxes, royalties, dividends and fees to the Indonesian government.

Some of the recent protests against Freeport have been by nationalists angry that a U.S. company is profiting by digging up gold in a poor province of Indonesia. Separatists demanding an independent Papua have also targeted the company.

Last month, five security officers in Papua were bludgeoned to death during an anti-Freeport protest. (*)