TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - ReforMiner Institute executive director Komaidi Notonegoro said that the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry had committed violations by issuing an export permit for PT Freeport Indonesia. According to Komaidi, the export permit provided in a temporary special mining business permit (IUPK) has no legal basis.
"[The Ministry] has violated regulations since long ago, since [Freeport] has been banned from exporting concentrates," Komaidi told Tempo in Jakarta on Thursday, April 6, 2017. "However, I think this is the best solution that the government can come up with."
Earlier, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry issued an export recommendation for Freeport that will last for 8 months starting from February 17, 2017. Secretary General of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Teguh Pamudji clarified on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, that the temporary IUPK would not terminate Freeport's contract of works (CoW).
Komaidi asserted that the temporary IUPK was part of the government's strategy to encourage Freeport to withdraw its lawsuit filed with an international arbitration body. PT Freeport earlier planned to settle the dispute with an international arbitration. However, the company decided to scrap the plan.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan dismissed the allegation.
"The permit was not to avoid the arbitration, but to show our goodwill in conducting negotiations," Luhut said in Jakarta on Thursday, April 6, 2017.
Luhut expressed optimism that the negotiations between Freeport and the government will result in good solutions.
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