Yusuf Merukh plans to sue Minahasa regent and court chief
Monday, April 17 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
Yusuf Merukh, the local partner of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) will sue regent of Minahasa and the chief of the Tondano court if they continued with their decision to close the company's gold in the regency, Astaga.com reported on Sunday.
Yusuf, who owned 20 percent of the mine company through PT Tanjung Serapung, said that the court's order to temporarily close the gold mine over a tax dispute breached the contract of work awarded to Newmont.
"The court has no right to order the closure of the gold mine because the contract of work awarded to Newmont has the same level with a law. Like a law, the contract was also signed by President upon the approval of the House of Representatives," he said in a press statement.
The court issued recently a provisional ruling ordering Newmont to temporarily close its gold mine until it issued a final verdict over the company's alleged refusal to pay the local tax.
The Minahasa regency sued Newmont for a total of Rp 19 billion (US$2.4 million) in local taxes on the overburden it extracted from 1995 to 1998. Newmont refused to pay, saying the taxes were not included in its contract of work and that it had extracted the overburden to access the gold deposit underneath.
Under local tax regulations, mining companies are obliged to pay taxes on gravel, sand and stone extracted and commercially used. The regency believes Newmont commercially used the overburden it extracted. The Supreme Court then asked the local court to delay the closure order but the later gave no response to the request.
Yusuf said he suspected a conspiracy between the regent and the chief of the local court about the closure order because it was issued only a day after Newmont refused to transfer about Rp 11 billion (about US$1.5 million) into the account of the regent as part of a deal to settle the case out of the court.
Newmont agreed the payment as long as the money is paid through a foundation, which will later use the money to finance the community development. But the regent refused the offer. (*)