Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi has asked state-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia to resume its Timika route, saying he will persuade state-owned oil company PT Pertamina to provide fuel for the flights.
Freddy also said US mining giant PT Freeport McMoran could not be blamed for its decision to stop supplying fuel for the flights, saying it should be the government’s responsibility given that Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika, Papua, was a public, not private airport.
Freeport constructed the airport in the 1970s to serve its operations before then transportation minister Djusman Syafii Jamal appointed the facility a public airport.
Freeport had reportedly decided to suspend fuel supply to Garuda indefinitely following the carrier’s alleged refusal to transport Freeport executives from Jayapura to Timika over the weekend, according to Garuda spokesman Pudjobroto.
Pujobroto said pilot Manotar Napitupulu did not allow Freeport president director Armando Mahler and several other executives to board the aircraft as they were not on the passenger manifest.
Freeport spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan, however, denied the claim, saying the airport faced a fuel shortage during the Christmas and New Year holiday.
“I’ve asked [state-owned airline] Merpati Nusantara and Garuda, who both serve Timika, to continue their services while we try to find a solution,” Freddy said, adding that one option was to have Pertamina build a fuel depot in Timika.
“[Fuel needs] for these flights have so far been supplied by Freeport, whom we should thank,” Freddy told reporters at the Presidential Palace.
He added that Freeport had been supplying fuel for the flight using fuel for its own operations and that the gold and copper company had been overwhelmed by the situation.
“They’ve asked me to ask Pertamina to immediately open a depot in Timika so that flights can be served by Pertamina instead,” Freddy said.
“We’ll discuss this with the state SOE minister.”
Freddy said if Pertamina did not open a fuel depot in Timika, he would ask other oil companies, such as Shell and Petronas, to do so, saying it was important to ensure the Timika route continued to serve the public there.
He said he had met with executives from Freeport and Garuda, and that a solution would be agreed to in three months.
Meanwhile, Freeport has been asked to continue supplying fuel for Garuda and Merpati flights. Freddy said flights to Timika should not be halted, otherwise other problems would appear.
“Papua is easily politicized. If Garuda and Merpati no longer fly there, the issue of independence may resurface,” the minister, who is of Papuan descent, said.
“The government should prioritize this problem and not consider it insignificant enough to leave people abandoned. If this happens, a new political issue will emerge.”
