Jakarta – A gold mining firm has started vacating its mine in Indonesia's East Kalimantan following a three-week blockade by residents angered over land compensation issues, a mine official said Tuesday.
"Since May 7, we have been facing a force majeure ... we can no longer control the situation nor supply electricity for the workers," PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM) spokesman Kasan Mulyono told AFP by telephone from the mine's location in Kelian, West Kutai.
"Under these conditions, we are finally forced to cancel all non-essential contracts with our contractors and begin to evacuate the workers home," Mulyono said. Only a skeleton security and ecosystems monitoring crew would remain from the 1,050 staff, about 90 percent of whom are local, and 600 workers with subcontractors, he said.
London-based Rio Tinto Ltd. holds 90 percent of the equity in PT KEM with the remaining 10 percent held by its private Indonesian partner PT Harita Jayaraya.
Mulyono said the access road from Jelemuq, site of the company's logistics harbour on the Mahakam river, has been blocked at four points since April 19. One blockade has since been lifted. The company was forced to temporarily close production on April 29 because of interrupted supplies of fuel and lime.
"We are continuing negotiations with the protesters and late yesterday [Monday] they agreed to let two trucks pass to supply fuel and limestone to the mining operation," Mulyono said. He said limestone was especially important if the locals wanted their water supply to remain unaffected, as lime neutralized the acidity of minerals from the mines which become oxidized when they come into contact with water and air.
Mulyono said local people had blocked the access road over land compensation issues. The claim that some of the land the company bought in 1990 and 1994 for the mine operation had been priced at less than market value. They also say compensation has yet to be paid for some parts of the land used by the mining firm, he said.
A Jakarta-based PT KEM spokesman, Anang Rizkani Noor said the company had almost completed verification of some 6,000 claims on the mine, the Jakarta Post said. Noor said that the surface area covered by the claims exceeded the surface area of the mine itself.
PT KEM, which has operated the mine since 1992, produces 13-14 tonnes of gold annually from the concession, which will expire in 2004.