Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Sudirman Said – citizendaily.net
Abu Dhabi, Jubi – The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Sudirman Said, said the Indonesian government has achieved a temporary settlement with PT. Freeport on the arrangement of the regulation on the coal and mineral resources in Indonesia.
“It has been completed,” Said told reporters while on the flight from Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi in a mission to the United States with the President Joko Widodo on Thusday (29/10/2015).
He said Freeport needs the government’s guarantee and assurance over their investment. He also confirmed he had meet the Freeport’s executive officer in the Unites States in the US Chamber of Commerce held in Washington DC. “I met Richard yesterday, the talk went to the rearrangement (of the regulation), no more talks,” he said. He added the rearrangement of the regulation would be settled because the aspects of mineral regulation in Indonesia must be revised at once.
The minister admitted it’s difficult to propose a deadline but as the initiative to start has been growing so strong from both the Government and the House of Representative, thus it is expected obtaining its result within a year.
“Through that letter, the tension between Freeport and the Indonesian Government has terminated, now it is to acknowledge the Indonesian people about what was happening,” he said.
He also appealed those who do not understand about the issue to not provoke the situation but try to understand about the real fact.
Within next one or two weeks, the Minister Sudirman Said will depart to Timika to launch the underground mining area which is part of the merger of PT. Freeport and the ten states companies. “Freeport invited ten states companies to provide supply and equipment, for instance, Krakatau Steel to supply the iron, or Pindad to supply heavy equipment,” he said. (*/rom)
