Villagers block road leading to KPC mining sites

Over one hundred villagers on Tuesday blocked a road leading to the mining sites of East Kalimantan-based coal miner PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) so as to press the firm management to soon compensate them for the land they had surrendered for its projects, local daily Kaltim Post reported.

Rio Tinto Indonesia spokeswoman Nunik Maulana Maharani confirmed the newspaper report when contacted by Petromindo.Com on Wednesday.

The road blockade ended after local security officers persuaded the villagers, who came from Pinang Raya village, to leave the place and meet with leaders of East Kutai regency council (DPRD).

Fifteen of the protesting farmers later met with DPRD vice chairman Bahrid Buseng and other council members, and KPC officials. Representatives of the local office of National Land Agency also attended the meeting.

The villagers said in the meeting they had struggled for land compensation for quite sometime, and that they had failed to reach any agreement with KPC on that matter. They threatened to forcefully occupy the land they claimed to belong to them.

Participants in the meeting agreed to form a fact-finding team so as to determine the real cause of the farmers? protest. The team would start working on August 20. Meanwhile, the Pinang Raya farmers agreed to avoid activities which could disrupt the operation of KPC.

KPC is in the process of divesting 51 percent of its shares to Indonesian investors.

Rio Tinto and BP PLC equally own KPC which operates a huge coalmine in Sangatta in East Kutai regency, East Kalimantan. (leo)