VP Asks Freeport to Build Smelter in Papua
31 January 2015 17:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that since the beginning, the government had asked mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia to build a smelter in Papua.
As for the plan to build a smelter in Gresik, East Java, Kalla said the plan to was limited only to the agreement of the land.
"The smelter (in Gresik) has not been built yet. It’s only an MoU on the land (allocated),” he said in Jakarta, Friday, January 30, 2015.
"(The smelter in Papua) is expected to bring efficiency,” he added.
Nevertheless, Kalla did not deny that the construction of a smelter in Papua would require supporting infrastructures, one of them being supply of electricity.
"However, we have to make sure electricity supply is enough in Papua,” Kalla said.
Previously, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said said that he could understand the aspiration of Papua people who wanted the Freeport smelter be built in Papua, with one of the goals being to grow derivatives industries.
Therefore, the Energy Ministry had coordinated with regional governments in Papua.
"However, the challenge is inadequate infrastructures,” the Minister added.
ALI HIDAYAT