TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-Papuas’s local House of Parliament member Charles Simaremare said he is thrilled to hear PT Freeport Indonesia’s plan to divest its shares.

However, Charles requests that the central government also involves the local government. “Please involve the local government, as it also has the desire to own Freeport shares,” he said in Jakarta on Sunday, October 25.

Charles mentioned his urge to own Freeport share is because the government never involved the local parliament to discuss the purchasing of Freeport shares, the Papuan people have only been acted as `viewers`.

“It’s like we’re being left out by the government and Freeport. They negotiate alone, so we do not know,” said Charles. He claims to have reported the matter to President Joko Widodo, however, the President has yet responded to the issue.

Charles said the local government will think of a way to purchase the share once the central government has given a signal. The local government plans to partner with Bank Papua and local companies having solid strong economy.

“Papua is rich, all eyes are on Papua,” said Charles. The local government is ready if it’s asked to purchase Freeport shares.

Energy and Mineral Resource Minister Sudirman Said say Freeport will first offer its shares to the central government and state-owned enterprise (SOE). In this phase, the Finance Minister and SOE Minister will be involved.

If the government is not interested, then the shares will be offered to the local government and regional-owned enterprise. If the local government refuses to purchase it, then it will go to stock sales in the Jakarta Stock Exchange or Initial Public Offering (IPO) to be offered to private parties.

MAYA AYU PUSPITASARI