Eltinus Omaleng, Regent of Mimika while meet and hear the workersí demand (IST)
Jayapura, Jubi – The Papua provincial government has submitted a five-point proposal to the CEO of Freeport MacMoran Gold and Copper Inc during a visit to the company’s headquarters in Phoenix, the United States, the head of the provincial Mineral and Energy Resources Department, Bangun Manurung, said Sunday (12/10).
Issues addressed by the Papua Governor Lukas Enembe include the surface tax, share divestment, smelter development, environment, and equipment and service procurement that should be fully implemented by employers, Manurung said.
Manurung said the environmental issue has been the concern of his department, as well as Papuan employers.
It is hoped that employers will be involved in the procurement of equipment and services.
“The environmental issue is our concern. We have specially consulted on this issue when we were in Jakarta, in particular to discuss the accidents that happened in the company recently. Based on our observation, the accidents often occurred Saturday or Sunday,” he said.
Earlier, after returning from the United States, Enembe revealed eight important issues to be addressed in the Contract of Work concerning the interests of the government and the people of Papua.
The governor also talked about the ownership of share divestment and handover of Wabu block B.
“We also requested the investment data on the government’s share. If I am not mistaken, the Freeport claimed the investment value of the Wabu block B is approximately 1.4 trillion rupiah. And it’s becoming the government’s share. Therefore we used it as a basis to negotiate with other investors,” Lukas Enembe said.
The governor said in the six-hour meeting, he proposed the utilization of the local and domestic products.
“It is important, because almost two hundred thousand items were supplied from outside of Papua, whereas the Provincial Regulation said about the obligation of using the local commodities, such as the local vegetables supplies for Freeport. Additionally, the Provincial Government also encouraged the Papuan employers to be the business partners of the company,” he said.
They also talked about the environmental issue in the meeting.
“We asked for deposits anticipating the end of the Contract of Work with Freeport, because the local community would get the environmental impact from the green house effect. The deposits we asked are for the long-term sustainability. We asked them to deposit it to Provincial Government instead of Central Government.” Enembe said. (Alexander Loen/rom)
