Freeport's Ceased Production Costs State $1.82 Million a Day
22 May 2013 02:39 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Thamrin Sihite, director general of mineral and coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said that since PT Freeport Indonesia stopped all production activities following the underground tunnel collapse, the state is losing revenue.
"As an impact, states revenues would be delayed," Thamrin said on Tuesday, May 21.
According to Thamrin's calculation, the potential loss of revenue is approximately US$1.82 million per day. The calculation is based on the assumption that Freeport's mine daily production volume reaches up to 86 million tons on normal days.
Nevertheless, Thamrin said the government will not set a deadline to the production halt, and will continue to prioritize rescue efforts and further evaluation.
Thamrin was unwilling to say what penalties Freeport could be given over what happened. He said that the important thing now is to complete evacuation and conduct an evaluation to determine the cause of the incident. "To prevent similar things from happening again," he said.
On May 14, the training facility tunnel belonging to US-owned gold and copper mining company, PT Freeport Indonesia, collapsed. Thirty-eight workers were buried in the Big Gossan mine located in the Tembagapura District, Papua.
The Energy Ministry on Tuesday announced that all workers buried in the underground tunnel have been found. Of the 38 training participants buried in the tunnel, 21 died while 10 were injured.
AYU PRIMA SANDI
