TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, has his say on the statement said by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The president said that he would take firm actions against PT Freeport Indonesia if the U.S. based mining company continues to be adamant with their decision.

“Just wait, the President has issued his statement. I personally don’t want to dig deeper into polemics. We have other works to do,” Luhut said on Friday, February 24, 2017.

Read: Gov't Offers Three Options over Dispute to Freeport

Luhut claims that the government has managed to work under existing rules to resolve Freeport’s issue. He declared his readiness if the mining company files for arbitration. “We’ll face them. But not all of us want to go [to that path]. Because it may hurt [us],” he said.

PT Freeport Indonesia can yet to export their mining products since they have not received any form of export recommendation. The Government will only issue an export recommendation if Freeport is willing to change their business license into a special mining business permit (IUPK).

Freeport-McMoRan plans to file for arbitration because they consider the Indonesian government has violated a clause contained in the Contract of Work (CoW). According to Freeport, they had the right to export concentrate until it was canceled by Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources since January 12.

Chief Executive of Freeport-McMoRan, Richard Adkerson, threatens to file for arbitration in 120 days if it turns out to be a dead-end negotiation. The Energy Minister stated that he does not consider the deadline seriously. In fact, the Minister said that the Indonesian Government could actually file a lawsuit against Freeport.

Luhut Panjaitan stated that the government could actually terminate Freeport’s operation license after the CoW ends on 2021. He also considers that Freeport has acted arbitrarily by failing to construct a smelter in the country.

ANGELINA ANJAR SAWITRI