Maroef Sjamsoeddin said he has rejected an offer by the board of Freeport McMoRan to extend his contract.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia, Maroef Sjamsoeddin, resigned from the post of chief of the copper and gold mining company on Monday.

In a letter to PT Freeport Indonesia employees, which was received here on the same day, he explained that his contract as president director of PT Freeport Indonesia, that was valid for a year, has expired.

He said he has rejected an offer by the board of Freeport McMoRan to extend his contract. Freeport McMoRan is the principal company of PT Freeport Indonesia.

"I have sent the resignation letter to the chief of Freeport McMoRan," he added.

In a message to the media, Sjamsoeddin thanked them for the cooperation he received as he carried out the tasks and functions entrusted to him by the management of the principal company as president director of PT Freeport Indonesia.

Maroef Sjamsoeddin, who held this office since January 2015, came from a military background where he enjoyed the rank of air force rear marshal.

Before he became president director of PT Freeport Indonesia, he was the deputy chief of the National Intelligence Agency from 2011-2014.

He held a Master of Business Administration degree from the Jakarta Institute of Management Studies, and had replaced Rozik B Soetjipto.

Sjamsuddins resignation comes at a time when the issue of the continuation of Freeports operations in Papua province is still hanging fire. It comes close on the heels of the controversy about the extension of the mining companys contract that also saw Setya Novanto resigning from the post of the speaker of the House.

Freeport has applied for the extension of its contract from 2021 to 2041 but based on Law Number 4 of 2014 on mineral and coal mining, application for extension could only be considered two years before the expiration of the contract, which is valid till 2021.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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