Timah workers protest rampant illegal mining
Thursday, May 23 2013 - 01:50 AM WIB
The massive demonstration by workers of state-controlled tin mining company PT Timah on Wednesday was triggered by chaos in the tin mining sector amid rampant stealing of the company?s tin reserves, illegal mining, and the inaction of the police, said company President Director Sukrisno.
He told Petromindo.com that according to internal audit figure, an estimated 138,000 tons of Timah?s tin reserves were lost to illegal miners between 2008 and 2012. With current market price of about US$23.000 per ton, the lost is estimated to worth about $3.17 billion.
Thousands of Timah workers initially held a rally in front of the company?s headquarters in Pangkal Pinang, Bangka Belitung, protesting the rampant stealing of tine reserves and illegal mining activity. The protesters then moved to the local legislative council building, and to the local police headquarters.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak