Two regencies fight over Inco royalty
Wednesday, September 27 2000 - 02:00 AM WIB
Two regencies in South Sulawesi province: Luwu regency and the North Luwu (Lutra) regency are fighting for the royalty of nickel mining giant PT Inco.
The 32 percent Inco royalty was the largest source of revenue for the Luwu administration. But after Lutra decided to form a new separate regency, Luwu lose its huge source of revenue because Inco is under the Lutra area.
The Luwu administration and parliament had tried to lobby the Lutra side to be given part of the Inco royalty but so far had been unsuccessful.
Visiting parliament member from Jakarta Fachry A. Laluasa called on the two Luwu regencies not to fight.
"Don't fight just because of the Inco royalty. The two Luwus are separated because of administrative factor. Culturally, you are one," Fachry said.
Luwu Regent Kamrul Kasim said that to obtain a resolution to the problem, a mediator role of the provincial administration was needed. He said that recent attempt by the Luwu administration to negotiate with the Lutra administration had failed. (*)