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strong>July 26, p1

Less than three months before the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is due to leave office, it sealed a strategic deal on Friday with the local unit of US giant miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc., which ensured the company would continue to operate after its license expires in 2021.

The government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PT Freeport Indonesia, despite previous pledges from Yudhoyono to the contrary. He had said that should he be forced to do so he would meet the president-elect for consultation and approval.

Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry director general for minerals and coal R. Sukhyar and Freeport Indonesia president director Rozik Soetjipto signed the MoU, which will serve as the legal basis for the next government'€™s amendment of the miner'€™s contract of work (CoW).

Your comments

With all due respect to all concerned: No matter who did it and why such a one-sided contract was extended beyond 2012, the new president should and must make this paper null and void. It'€™s unfair and is a daylight robbery of natural wealth. Surely we have hundreds of local experts who will be glad to help mine this hidden wealth for our nation.

Hamid

Hamid, I agree with what you said, that Indonesia is capable of processing the copper and gold from Freeport and Newmont had the government been able to plow back some of the tax money they have taken through the years from the project.

But the beneficiaries have been too busy enriching themselves and they continue to do so with SBY'€™s latest act, which was to help them seal the stalled deal.

The funny thing is that the whole mineral export fiasco was about them and now they have some sort of concession while the rest of Indonesian miners suffered from the initiative.

TC

 
The problem is old, as proven time and again: as soon as you take things over, in 90 percent of the cases output drops, tax revenue drops and corruption grows.

Duncan Tan

Maybe the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) should investigate this deal to see if it is in line with the law. The West Papuans are still in dispute about whether Indonesia is legitimately in control of their land.

The Act of Free Choice 1969 needs an international probe and military officers involved in illegal business dealings in West Papua must be summoned for questioning.

Anthony Craig

Future leaders must continue negotiations for the sake of the West Papuans. Hopefully, duck quacks won'€™t echo.

Dyramo

SBY made the smart move and the only play that Indonesia had lest it lose Papua. I read how Indonesians complain a lot about how Freeport is ripping off Indonesian resources with its mining operation in Papua.

The complaints are hardly justified, as the only reason Indonesia is in Papua is to serve the interests of the American mining company. The people who have been shafted (yes, pun intended) are the Papuans. Indonesia is compensated quite well for providing its security forces '€” so please stop whining.

HJ

Many do not realize the amount of money required to get the project on stream. I worked with Freeport Logistics in Singapore (way back) and I know how much (more or less) was forked out. Most of their rolling stock was moved from Singapore and Darwin was used for supplies and consumptions. This took a few years.

And lest they forget, there were great risks involved, too.

Valkyrie

Yes, but remember that the people who live in the shadow of the poison-leaching monstrosity receive no benefit and suffer great detriment. Is it fair, moral, humane or economic that Freeport shareholders and all of Indonesia benefit at the detriment of their brothers?  

Why should Papua be different to the other provinces? Why should it not also have democratic elections, budget guarantees and limited self-government, as has been so successful elsewhere in the archipelago?

Jay_Z