Govt Prepares Lawyer to Face Newmont
23 July 2014 18:52 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Susilo Siswoutomo, the deputy minister of energy and mineral resources (ESDM), said the ministry had prepared a lawyer to face Newmont's lawsuit at the arbitration court.
"We have prepared everything, starting from the papers and the lawyer. We are setting the criteria to choose one [the lawyer]," he said at the Economic Ministry on Tuesday, July 22, 2014.
Susilo said the government was still awaiting Newmont to show its good will and return to the negotiation table. He added the government had also prepared a presidential decree on the necessary technicalities to face Newmont's lawsuit. "It's almost done," he said.
Mahendra Siregar, the head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), added that the government had been prepared to take on the lawsuit since the company had yet to respond to its negotiation invitation.
"They can drop the lawsuit anytime, but they haven't," he said.
According to Mahendra, the government would be under pressure if it kept on asking Newmont for negotiations sans any measure to respond to the lawsuit. Therefore, he said, the government had prepared arguments, including the technicalities to cope with the lawsuit.
JAYADI SUPRIADIN
