Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Dozens of angry Papuan activists expressed their anger over mining company PT Freeport Indonesia by storming the Sheraton Timika hotel Tuesday where several senior provincial government officials were staying.
The group smashed up four buses and set a car alight. No human casualties or property damage to the hotel proper were reported in the incident.
The latest in a series of protests against Freeport raised such concern among the hotel's guests – which included several provincial councillors and members of the Papua People's Council (MRP) – that they had to be evacuated to safety.
Papua councillor Abdul Hakim told The Jakarta Post from Timika that the action took place as a result of disappointment by the protesters as they could not come along with the councillors and MRP members to visit Freeport's mine in Tembagapura.
Eleven councillors and 18 MRP members staying at the hotel were on a five-day working trip to visit Freeport's mines in Tembagapura and Timika in Mimika regency. They were planning to collect data following widespread protests demanding the mining company's closure.
"We were about to leave at 6 a.m. but the road was blocked and we couldn't get through. The people wanted to come with the group but that was not part of the plan by Freeport so they prevented us from getting through," Abdul Hakim explained.
Since the team could not go to Tembagapura, he said they watched videos of the mining activities while at the hotel. But at 4 p.m., the people that put up the road block attacked the hotel, he added. The attackers stormed the hotel carrying rocks, spears and machetes. They pelted the hotel's entrance with stones and also damaged cars belonging to Freeport employees in the hotel parking area, Antara reported.
Employees of the US-based mining giant and the US hotel chain tried to fight back and chase the attackers. "Freeport does belong to the Amung Medan Kamoro tribe, but we and our families depend upon Freeport for our livelihoods," one local Freeport employee was quoted by Antara as saying.
A Freeport spokesperson, Mindo Pangaribuan, told the Post the company had provided facilities for representatives of the residents to join the group as agreed following an earlier meeting between MRP members and the crowd.
But when the team was about to leave, he said, the people's representatives did not show up and they blocked the road instead.
Mindo said the company decided to evacuate all guests from the hotel as well as the councillors and MRP members. "We're still evacuating (the guests), for the next step, I have no comment," Mindo said.
The attack, however, did not last long as security personnel quickly arrived and secured the area. Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Kartono S. claimed later Tuesday, however, that Timika had been secured as police personnel were deployed to several locations.
The attack was the latest incident following protests in Jakarta and Papua over the company's activities. Last month, the company had to suspend operations at its Grasberg mine, following a clash between illegal miners and security officers after a dispute over being allowed to sift through the company's tailings.
In the same month, Papuan students attacked a building that houses the company's office in Jakarta. Police named nine suspects in the building attack.