T

he Papua administration has announced that it will ask for a 10 percent stake in mining giant PT Freeport due to the fact that the company operates on Papuan soil but contributes little to regionaldevelopment.

'€œWe demand the Papuan people'€™s customary land right in the form of a 10 percent stake in the company,'€ newly installed Governor Lukas Enembe said on Friday.

According to him, a 10 percent share in PT Freeport was equal to Rp 87 trillion in cash.

'€œOf course, we cannot afford to buy the shares, but the company could grant us the shares in compensation for the years of mining on our land,'€he said.

Lukas also expects Freeportto help more with increasing Papuan people'€™s welfare. He said that all thistime Freeport hadpaid only the central government in the form of taxes and royalties and it was the central government that allocated funds for the Papuan administration.
 
He said Papuans wanted the company to help the local administration in building infrastructure, such as bridges, highways and other public facilities.

Commenting on this, Papuan activist Joseph Rahawadan said the Papuan administration'€™s request was reasonable considering Freeport had operated in the province foryears and had benefited from its presence here.

'€œIn fact, according to my estimate, it would be OK if the local administration asked for a 25 percent share,'€ he said.(dic)