AntaraTimika (ANTARA) - The Mimika district government will immediately form a regional government-owned enterprise (BUMD) to manage the shares of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), in addition to existing BUMDs owned by the Papua provincial government.
Mimika District Head Eltinus Omaleng stated in Timika on Thursday that the establishment of BUMD to manage PTFI's shares was driven by the unilateral decision of the provincial government and DPRD of Papua through Local Government Regulation (Perda) Number 7 of 2018 on the Papuan Limited Liability Company Divesting Mandiri.
Article 15 of Perda Number 7 of 2018 regulates the composition of shares in the company, specifically the Papua provincial government receiving 51 percent; the Mimika District Government, 29 percent; and the district government around the PT Freeport Indonesia operating area obtaining a 20 percent share.
In terms of the composition of Papuan shares from the 51 percent share of the Indonesian Government at PT Freeport, it has been clearly regulated according to a joint agreement between the Government of Indonesia, governor of Papua, and the Mimika district head to allocate 10 percent for Mimika, including for indigenous people, and three percent for the Papua provincial government.
"We certainly protested strongly over the decision of the governor and the DPRD Papua to determine the composition of the shares of 10 percent. We did not approve it and would ourselves form the BUMD," District Head Omaleng noted.
He noted that the Mimika district government, along with the local DPRD, immediately convened to form a regulation on the establishment of the BUMD in question.
"I have conveyed to the chairperson of the DPRD (of Mimika, Elminus B Mom). The name of the BUMD already exists. We just have to submit it to the Mimika DPRD to be determined. This will be done as soon as possible," Omaleng explained.
Mimika District Head Omaleng had recently sent a letter to President Joko Widodo in Jakarta, with copies forwarded to the Indonesian Minister of Finance, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, and managing director of PT Inalum.
In his letter, Omaleng sought no change in the shares to the Mimika district government, specifically seven percent, and the Papua provincial government, three percent, of the distribution of 10 percent of Freeport's shares for Papua. The letter was in response to the aspirations of Papua Governor Lukas Enembe seeking a share of 10 percent for Papua from the 51 percent divestment of shares of Freeport.
In accordance with the agreement between the Government of Indonesia, Papua Province and Mimika district government, and PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum) regarding the acquisition of PTFI's divested shares signed in Jakarta on January 12, 2018, the Papua provincial government and Mimika district government get 10 percent of PTFI's shares from the 51 percent owned by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, with the Papua provincial government's share of three percent and Mimika District Government, seven percent, including representing community rights of customary rights holders and permanently affected communities.
It was further agreed that the Papua provincial government and Mimika district government will form BUMD for managing these shares.
The Mimika district government disagreed and did not accept the contents of Papua Provincial Regulation Number 7 of 2018, specifically Article 15, that regulates the composition of share ownership in PT Papua's BUMD Divestment Mandiri, as it did not comply with the contents of the Master Agreement as referred to in number 1.
Settlement of these problems has been attempted through facilitation and mediation by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia on December 14, 2018, and the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia on January 11, 2019, but to date, the Papua provincial government has yet to follow up on changes in stock composition as stipulated in Article 15 of Regional Regulation Number 7 of 2018.
Considering the completion of the acquisition of PTFI's divested shares by Inalum on December 21, 2018, and the establishment of BUMD still being problematic, as much as 10 percent of Papua's temporary shares are taken over and managed by Inalum.
The temporary takeover of shares by PT Inalum was due to the Papua provincial government not consequently implementing the contents of the Master Agreement that resulted in a loss of regional income for the Mimika district government.
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Eliswan Azly
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
