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Laid off mining employees ask governor for help
Employees of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) rallied on Monday at the West Nusa Tenggara gubernatorial office in Mataram and urged Governor Zainul Majdi to resolve the problems plaguing the copper and gold mining company
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Lie-in: Workers from mining company PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara conduct a street protest in front of the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) governorâs office in Mataram on Monday. The protesters were demanding that the local government intervene in the companyâs plan to lay off some of its employees.(JP/Panca Nugraha) (NTB) governorâs office in Mataram on Monday. The protesters were demanding that the local government intervene in the companyâs plan to lay off some of its employees.(JP/Panca Nugraha)
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mployees of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) rallied on Monday at the West Nusa Tenggara gubernatorial office in Mataram and urged Governor Zainul Majdi to resolve the problems plaguing the copper and gold mining company.
The protesters claimed to represent more than 3,000 PT NNT employees who have been temporarily laid off and had their salaries cut since June 6, following the company's declaration of force majeur in the face of the government's ore-export ban.
They urged the provincial administration to take concrete measures to assist the employees, insisting that the issue between the government and the company should not have affected the workforce.
'We have been directly affected by the row between the company and the central government, so we've come here to ask the governor to intervene and immediately mediate in the issue. As the most senior official in the province, the governor should be able to support us and take us to Jakarta to discuss the issue with the relevant ministries or, if need be, the President,' PT NNT workers union leader Abdul Azis told The Jakarta Post during the rally on Monday.
According to Azis, the families of the thousands of laid-off PT NNT workers have not only been economically affected due to the salary cuts of between 15 and 35 percent, but they fear they will soon be dismissed by the company.
The rally was marred by a clash with Mataram Police officers as the demonstrators blocked the main road in front of the governor's office in protest at being unable to meet the governor.
Lie-in: Workers from mining company PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara conduct a street protest in front of the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) governor's office in Mataram on Monday. The protesters were demanding that the local government intervene in the company's plan to lay off some of its employees.(JP/Panca Nugraha)
Representatives of the protesters were eventually greeted by the provincial secretariat's economic and development affairs second assistant Lalu Gita Aryadi.
Gita told the crowd the governor could not meet them because he was in East Lombok. However, Gita stressed that the provincial administration had fought for the rights of the PT NNT employees, even before the company laid off 80 percent of its staff.
'In December 2013, the governor was in contact with the Finance Ministry to review the export ban and export tax policy for PT NNT as the impact would also harm local people. However, you must understand that everything depends on the decision by the central government,' he said.
The crowd then dispersed but they vowed to return in bigger numbers if their demands were not met.
As reported earlier, PT NNT has suspended mining operations at the Batu Hijau site in West Sumbawa regency since June 6. The mining company has also temporarily laid off 80 percent of its 4,000 permanent employees and imposed salary cuts.
The company claimed the move was necessary because its mining-concentrate storage facility was already full as the company could not export its yields.
In a press release, PT NNT president director Martiono Hadianto said the company had officially conveyed to the government and its employees that it was facing a situation of force majeur, which was in line with its working contract, due to the export ban which had caused the company to cease production activities on June 5.
