Shareholders to decide KPC's future
Tuesday, August 15 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
Coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal shareholders will decide the company's future in a meeting following failed efforts to end a dispute with striking workers, a senior executive of the company said on Monday.
KPC representative for Jakarta, Bambang Susanto, said that representatives of KPC shareholders Anglo- Australian mining company Rio Tinto and British-American oil and gas company Beyond Petroleum (BP), formerly known as British Petroleum, would hold a two-day meeting here, starting on Tuesday.
"Tomorrow's discussion will likely cover every aspect of this problem, including the possibility of KPC pulling out of Indonesia," Bambang told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The giant coal mining company has shut down its operation since Aug. 2, when a deadlock in negotiations with striking workers prompted them to resume their blockade on KPC's mine.
The strike, which started in mid-June, caused the company to shut down its operation three times because of faltering negotiations and losses amounting to US$1.65 million.
Bambang said that KPC's board of commissioners would also attend the upcoming meeting.
He said the company had considered temporarily laying off several KPC staff while the company remained shut.
The meeting, he said, would also consider declaring a force majeure to the contract of work signed with the government.
"The force majeure simply means that KPC would not be able to pay its full obligation to the government," he explained. (*)