[Kabar-Irian] News: June 6-9 2006 (2)
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June 6-9 2006
KABAR IRIAN NEWS
TOPICS
* Freeport mine in Papua on defensive over its enviromental record
* Treaty to recognise Jakarta control of Papua: PM
* Indonesian envoy to return to Canberra
* M backs Indonesia over Papua
* Leaders to meet as Jakarta ties thaw
* Papuan councillors' U.S. trip 'useless'
* Norway pulls Wal-Mart - Freeport investments
* SBY, students discuss Papua
* Papua governor-elect waits for inauguration
* Tribes reject Freeport talks in U.S.
* Indonesia agrees to higher Tangguh LNG price with China
* House to send delegation to Australia
* Australia, Indonesia Will Discuss Security Accord, Howard Says
* INDONESIA: Jakarta moves to mend ties with Australia with new pact
* Freeport objects to exclusion from Norway fund
* President Agrees to New Proposal on Gas Sales
* Indonesia's BP Migas says Tangguh loan deal signing likely after June 9
* Indonesia approves new oil price ceiling
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=24623
Radio New Zealand International
The Voice of New Zealand, Broadcasting to the Pacific
Te Reo Irirangi O Aotearoa, O Te Moana-Nui-A-Kiwa
Freeport mine in Papua on defensive over its enviromental record
Posted at 03:57 on 08 June, 2006 UTC
The Freeport McMoran copper and gold mine in the Indonesian province of
Papua has been defending its environmental record
after it was excluded from the Norwegian government Investment Funds
because of environmental damage.
A spokesman for Freeport, Bill Collier, says it’s based on a
misunderstanding and that the mining company has a strong
commitment to environmental protection in its mining process.
Janine Sudbury reports
“Norway has said its more than 240 billion US dollar oil fund would
no longer invest in companies it said were serious
and systematic abusers of human and labour rights.”
“The Norwegian government blames Freeport for using a natural river
system for the disposal of tailings from the Grasberg
mine.”
“But Mr Collier says the tailings from the mine are non-toxic and
that Freeport does not use cyanide or mercury in the
separation process.”
“He says the tailings sand is transported to the lowlands by one of
many mountain streams and are deposited within an
engineered system of levees.”
“He says the tailings deposit area will be revegetated with native
species or agricultural crops at the end of the mine
life.”
“Mr Collier refused to be interviewed citing the current
sensitivities in Indonesia.”
“Meanwhile, the Norwegian decision comes just a month after a report
sanctioned by Indonesia’s House of Representatives
confirmed that the Freeport mine in Papua is causing severe damage to the
environment.”
- ---
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/treaty-to-recognise-jakarta-control-
of-papua-pm/2006/06/08/1149359883650.html
Treaty to recognise Jakarta control of Papua: PM
Brendan Nicholson
June 9, 2006
A NEW security treaty with Jakarta will include an assurance that Australia
respects Indonesia's integrity — including its
ownership of West Papua — says Prime Minister John Howard.
Indonesia has insisted on the inclusion of an assurance that Australia will
not seek independence for the troubled province
as a condition to be met, before it signs the security agreement.
Mr Howard said he expected to meet Indonesia's President Yudhoyono soon,
though the exact date was still to be worked out.
"Some time in the not too distant future we will meet and talk about a lot
of things," Mr Howard said.
"Our relationship with Indonesia is very important. I am perfectly happy in
any document that we sign to say that we respect
the territorial integrity of Indonesia."
Mr Howard said Australia's relationship with Indonesia was always
challenging because the two countries were very different,
but he said he had a good personal relationship with President Yudhoyono.
"There's a lot of trust at senior government levels and there's always been
a lot of trust maintained at other levels.
"I hope that we will have a very productive meeting when we do get
together, which will probably be later this month."
Mr Howard said the security pact would be one of a number of issues
covered.
"I noticed something in the newspapers about that this morning based on
comments made by the President's security adviser.
"It is an issue that we need to kick around," Mr Howard said.
"There is no argument about our attitude towards Indonesian sovereignty
over Papua.
"We've never had a view that Papua should separate from Indonesia.
"The changes that have been made in Papua by the Indonesian Government have
provided a lot more democracy, a lot more
freedom," he said.
"People should bear that in mind when they automatically criticise
Indonesia every time something goes wrong."
- ---
http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Indonesian-envoy-to-return-to-Canberra/
2006/06/09/1149359908195.html
Indonesian envoy to return to Canberra
June 9, 2006 - 5:19AM
Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, who was summoned back to Jakarta in
March in protest against the granting of visas to a
group of Papuan asylum seekers, will return to Canberra by this weekend, a
Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Diplomatic relations were downgraded by the Indonesian government following
Australia's decision to grant "temporary
protection visas" to 42 of 43 asylum seekers from the troubled province of
Papua who landed by boat in northern Australia.
The ambassador, Teuku Muhammad Hamzah Thayeb, "will have arrived in
Canberra by this weekend," spokesman Desra Percaya said.
The development follows a meeting between Indonesian Foreign Minister
Hassan Wirajuda and his Australian counterpart
Alexander Downer in Singapore last month in which Downer expressed
Canberra's willingness to sign a document reaffirming its
respect for Indonesia's territorial integrity.
Australia's decision to grant the visas sparked outrage among Indonesian
nationalists, some of whom called for a break in
ties on grounds that the move lent support to the Papuan independence
movement.
Australia subsequently reviewed its asylum policy and decided that any
future unauthorised arrivals by boat on the mainland
would be processed offshore, such as in a third country like Nauru.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister
John Howard plan to meet by the end of this month
on Batam Island near Singapore.
The meeting is reportedly expected to take place before June 28-29 meeting
of the Australia Indonesia Partnership for
Reconstruction and Development Joint Commission meeting, which comprises
foreign, finance and other ministers of the two
sides.
It was not immediately clear, however, whether the agreement will be signed
during the Batam meeting.
Howard told reporters in Sydney, "There is no argument about our attitude
towards Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua".
"We have given the view that Papua should not be separate from Indonesia,"
he was quoted as saying by the Australian
Associated Press (AAP).
"I am perfectly happy in any document we sign to say that we respect the
territorial integrity of Indonesia."
The Papuan asylum seekers, including pro-independence activists and their
families, have accused Jakarta of "genocide" in
Papua, the scene of sporadic and low-level separatist activities.
© 2006 AAP
- ---
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19403718-29277,00.html
M backs Indonesia over Papua
From: AAP
June 08, 2006
PRIME Minister John Howard today reaffirmed Australia did not support
independence for Papua, and said he respected
Indonesia's territorial integrity.
The relationship between Mr Howard and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono deteriorated after Australia's decision
to grant temporary protection visas to 42 Papuan separatists in March.
Talks between the two leaders are likely to take place in Indonesia later
this month.
"There is no argument about our attitude towards Indonesia's sovereignty
over Papua," Mr Howard said today.
"We have given the view that Papua should not be separate from Indonesia."
Mr Howard said the Indonesian Government had made changes providing a lot
more democracy and freedom for its people.
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"People should bear that in mind when they automatically criticise
Indonesia every time something goes wrong," he said.
"I am perfectly happy in any document we sign to say that we respect the
territorial integrity of Indonesia."
An exact date for the Indonesian meeting has not been set, but Mr Howard
indicated he would discuss a range of issues, with
Dr Yudhoyono, including security.
"It is an issue that we need to kick around."
- ---
http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19413475%255E
911,00.html
Leaders to meet as Jakarta ties thaw
By MARK KENNY
09jun06
RELATIONS with Indonesia appear to be thawing after the crisis which
followed Australia granting entry to 42 Papuan
asylum-seekers who arrived in January.
Prime Minister John Howard said he expected to hold talks with Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono shortly.
"We haven't precisely settled the date, but it's a reasonable prediction
that some time in the not-too-distant future, we
will meet and talk about a lot of things."
Relations with Australia's powerful northern neighbour descended into
crisis after 43 Papuans arrived by boat in January.
The Indonesian Ambassador was recalled to Jakarta for consultations in what
was seen as a strong statement of disapproval at
Australia's recognition of the asylum-seekers' claims.
The two leaders are likely to consider a security pact and may stress
Indonesian territorial sovereignty over West Papua.
- ---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060609.H02&irec=2
Papuan councillors' U.S. trip 'useless'
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Ignoring strong opposition from tribal leaders, national legislators,
environmentalists and government officials, a committee
of 15 Papuan councillors plan to go ahead with a plan to meet top
executives of Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc. in New
Orleans.
Their stated mission: To seek a revision of the company's working contract
with the Indonesian government with the help of
American lawyers.
What others believe: A cynical American holiday on the impoverished Papuan
taxpayer, which will do nothing to settle the
issue and only cause Indonesia embarrassment internationally.
"We will hire American lawyers to help us negotiate a contract revision
with Freeport's management," said Weynand Wattory, a
member of the Papua Legislative Council special committee on Freeport.
Weynand said the committee believed the only way to settle the dispute
between Papuans and PT Freeport was to revise the 1991
working contract signed by Freeport and Jakarta.
The planned trip, which would cost an estimated Rp 5 billion (about
US$535,000) has been strongly opposed by Papuan tribal
leaders, who said all negotiations about Freeport should only take place in
Papua and involve indigenous representatives.
At the national House of Representatives, the secretary of the House
working committee on PT Freeport, Tjatur Sapta Edy, on
Wednesday said legislators would "reject any results of the (councillors')
negotiations held in the U.S."
Meanwhile, PT Freeport Indonesia has repeatedly said that it would only
consider renegotiating its working contract with
central government representatives.
Weynand said the trip was necessary to convey Papuans' concerns about
Freeport's presence in the province. He did not name
the American lawyers the committee planned to hire.
Papuans in the area were split between those who were demanding the
permanent closure of Freeport's Grasberg mine and those
who wanted the mine to continue but provide more income and work for local
residents, he said.
Neither group were happy with the status quo, he said.
"Our trip to New Orleans is to find ways to make Freeport's operation
beneficial to everybody."
Weynand said the councillors had not yet decided when they would depart.
Indonesian Center for Environmental Law executive director Indro Sugianto
doubted the trip would be useful.
"First, Freeport's working contract is signed by the company and the
government of Indonesia. The contract is made based on
Indonesian law, so in negotiations Indonesia should be represented by
lawyers who understand the Indonesian legal system," he
said.
"I doubt that the councillors will find the lawyers they want."
American lawyers would not understand the dispute between Freeport and the
Papuans who accuse the company of harming their
sacred land, Indro said.
He urged the government to make its views known about the planned visit.
A senior government official at the State Ministry of Environment said it
would be a big mistake for the Papuan legislators
to attempt to revise the contract without involving Jakarta because the
contract was signed by the Energy and Mineral
Resources Ministry and the Freeport management.
"The company can (legally) refuse to deal with anyone except the
government," said the official, who oversees legal
compliance, speaking on condition of anonymity.
- ---
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19392287-1702,00.html?from=rss
Norway pulls Wal-Mart investments
From: Agence France-Presse
- From correspondents in Oslo
June 07, 2006
THE Norwegian government has withdrawn more than $US430 million ($575.83
million) of investments in the world's largest
retailer Wal-Mart and a US copper and gold company, Freeport McMoRan, due
to ethical concerns.
The finance ministry said today that it had disposed of Wal-Mart shares and
bonds worth 2.5 billion kroner ($551.72 million)
because of "serious/systematic violations of human rights and labour
rights" by the company.
The sale of investments in Freeport, in which the Norwegian state held 116
million kroner ($25.44 million), was based on
"serious environmental damage".
The holdings were divested by managers of the Norwegian government's
Pension Fund, previously called the Oil Fund, which
collects and invests most of Norway's oil income.
According to figures from September 2005, the fund, which invests in stocks
and bonds, has around $US193 billion ($258.45
billion) under management, destined to finance future pension requirements.
But Norway, which is the world's third-largest oil exporter after Saudi
Arabia and Russia, has determined that the fund can
only be invested in companies that fulfill the ethical requirements
determined by the government.
Advertisement:
The finance ministry based its decisions on recommendations from the fund's
Council on Ethics.
It cited a recent council report as saying that "Wal-Mart consistently and
systematically employs minors in contravention of
international rules, that working conditions at many of its suppliers are
dangerous or health hazardous (and) that workers
are pressured into working overtime without compensation".
It also said that women are regularly discriminated against in pay,
employees' attempts to unionise are blocked and employees
are "in a number of cases unreasonably punished and locked in".
In the case of Freeport, which operates one of the world's largest copper
mines in the in the Indonesian province of Papua,
the council criticised it for disposing of close to 230,000 tonnes of
tailings, or residue, into a natural river system.
The practice has led to the release of large quantities of sediments and
heavy metails such as copper, cadmium and mercury
into the watercourse.
This has "inflicted serious damage on the river system and parts of the
riverine rainforest and has considerable negative
consequences for the indigenous peoples residing in the area", it said.
In September 2005 Norway announced it had withdrawn $US355 million worth of
investments from eight international
manufacturers of particularly harmful weapons, such as antipersonnel mines
and cluster bombs, including Lockheed Martin and
Raytheon.
And in January 2006 it said it had pulled more than $US500 million ($669.57
million) from seven multinational corporations,
including Boeing and Honeywell, due to ethical concerns over the groups'
production of nuclear arms components.
- ---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060607.H05
SBY, students discuss Papua
National News - June 07, 2006
JAKARTA: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should talk with Papuan
separatist leaders in the province to resolve the
long-standing conflict there, a group of Indonesian students studying in
Australia says.
Velix V. Wanggai, who chairs the Association of Indonesian Students in
Australia (PPIA), said the President seemed lukewarm
about the idea.
The PPIA claims to represent 30,000 Indonesian students in Australia.
"The President said he would visit Papua in a month. He plans to enter into
dialogs with public figures there but I don't
know if he will meet OPM (Free Papua Organization) leaders," Velix said
after a meeting with Yudhoyono here Tuesday.
Velix said Yudhoyono told the students any talks with Papua parties would
be in the spirit of reconciliation.
Velix said speaking to a range of groups in Papua, including the OPM, would
help the government gain international support
for its approach to peace. --JP
- ---
http://www.thejakartapost.com/yesterdaydetail.asp?fileid=20060607.G06
Papua governor-elect waits for inauguration
National News - June 07, 2006
JAYAPURA, Papua: Governor-elect Barnabas Suebu and his running mate Alex
Hasegem are waiting to be inaugurated after being
declared the winners of the Papua gubernatorial election.
The pair were announced as the winners of the election during a plenary
session of the Papua General Elections Commission on
May 31. The results of the election have been forwarded to the Home
Ministry, which must confirm them.
However, members of the Defenders of Justice and Democracy for the People
of Papua Forum staged a protest Monday, urging the
Papua Legislative Council to ignore the results of the election
commission's plenary session.
The protesters said the Supreme Court had yet to rule on complaints of
election fraud during the vote for governor, and no
winners could be declared until there was a court ruling.
Up to 45 members of the forum met with elections commission chairman John
Ibo, deputy chairman Yop Kogoya and the secretary
to the gubernatorial election special committee, Danang Jaya, in Jayapura
on Monday.
John Ibo promised to hold a plenary meeting to discuss the forum's
complaints. -- JP
- ---
Tribes reject Freeport talks in U.S.
National News - June 08, 2006
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Papuan tribal leaders oppose a plan by local councillors to meet PT
Freeport Indonesia bosses in the United States city of
New Orleans to renegotiate the company's much-criticized working contract.
Any negotiation with the executives of parent company Freeport McMoran
Copper and Gold Inc. should take place in Papua, where
it operates the world's largest gold mine, they said.
Environmentalists here and abroad have said Freeport Indonesia's have
caused extensive damage to ecosystems in the area.
Speaking in Jakarta on Wednesday at a conference hosted by national
environmental group Walhi, Amungme tribal leader Yosepha
"Mama" Alomang said a meeting with the company in Papua must take place
sometime this year.
The Amungme tribe holds the traditional ulayat rights in the area where
Freeport's Grasberg mine operates. Representatives
from seven tribes living near the Grasberg mine also attended the meeting.
"I urge the councillors not to go abroad to lobby or negotiate with
Freeport bosses. I stress to everybody that every dialog
should be held in Papua and involve locals who are suffering from the
company's operations," Yosepha said.
"Or else, the likelihood of the company's operations being shut down will
only become greater."
Yosepha won the American Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001 for her
efforts to save Papua's rain forests from mining and
logging.
Human rights group Elsam Papua director Aloysius Renwarin said 15 members
of the Papua legislative council's special
committee on Freeport planned to visit Freeport McMoran headquarters in New
Orleans to convey Papuans' concerns about the
company's operations.
They would also demand a fairer share of the firm's profits.
Some Rp 5 billion (about US$535,000) had been allotted from the provincial
budget to fund the trip, he said.
Weynand Wattory, a member of the special committee, could not be reached
for comment.
However, the secretary of the House of Representatives' working committee
on Freeport, Tjatur Sapta Edy, confirmed he had
been informed of the plan by Papuan councillors.
"However, every effort to renegotiate the working contract should go
through us, the parliament," he told The Jakarta Post.
Renwarin said that should the councillors go ahead with the visit, "we (the
House) would reject any results of the
negotiations held in the U.S."
Peter Yanwarin, leader of the Komoro tribe, which claims ulayat rights over
the land used by Freeport to dispose billions of
tons of its mine tailings, and Timika church leader Father John Djonga said
the visit would be undignified.
"They (Freeport) are the guests and we are the hosts. They are the one who
should respect us by coming here and having an
equal and honorable dialog," John said.
The House's working committee has expressed its desire to renegotiate the
1991 working contract signed between Freeport and
the government to increase the state's shares in the company from the
present 10 percent to 50 percent.
The government, meanwhile, is looking for only a 10-20 percent increase.
Freeport has repeatedly denied its operations have neglected environmental
management and development objectives, saying it
spent $84 million on the two areas last year.
The miner says a renegotiation of the working contract could only take
place if the government and company management agreed
to it.
- ---
Indonesia agrees to higher Tangguh LNG price with China
JAKARTA, June 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia has agreed to raise the price of
liquefied natural gas from the BP-led Tangguh project sold to China's CNOOC
to an
oil-equivalent of $38 a barrel versus the previous $25 level, the head of
oil
and gas watchdog BPMIGAS said on Tuesday.
Indonesia, Asia Pacific's only OPEC member but far richer in gas than in
oil,
has been pushing since January to raise the price in the long-term Tangguh
contract, agreed in 2002 with a ceiling at the equivalent of $25 a barrel
oil.
Oil is now trading above $70 and LNG prices have jumped along with it as
top
consumers Japan and South Korea compete with new buyers such as China,
India
and the United States.
"The Indonesian president has agreed for the new ceiling price for LNG
sales
to China that is equivalent to the crude price of $38 a barrel," Kardaya
Warnika told reporters.
"This new price will give more revenue to Indonesia," he said, following a
cabinet meeting chaired by the president.
Energy giant BP Plc., which operates Tangguh, in the remote Indonesian
province of Papua, declined to comment on the higher price endorsed by the
government.
Warnika had said in March that there was no change in the LNG volume sold
to
China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), which was due to start in
late-2008.
The increase is good news for Indonesia, whose trade balance has been hit
by
increased reliance on imported fuels, as well as the partners in the $5
billion Tangguh project.
CNOOC, which has a 17 percent stake in Tangguh, HASs contracted to lift 2.6
million tonnes per year (tpy) -- about a third of its capacity -- over 25
years
to a
new terminal in Fujian.
Tangguh has also secured contracts to supply 3.7 million tpy to the U.S.
West
Coast via Mexico and 1.1 million tpy to South Korea.
It is expected to produce 7.6 million tpy from two trains, with output
expected from the fourth quarter of 2008.
CNOOC, parent of Hong Kong and New York-listed CNOOC Ltd., is the leader in
China's emerging LNG market and has sealed China's only two long-term
supply
deals, the second from Australia's North West Shelf (NWS) development.
But more recent deals have been hard to clinch as China cringes at paying
the
higher prices that sellers now demand, despite its aim to increase use of
the
cleaner fuel.
The NWS deal was reportedly fixed at $3.5 per million British thermal units
(mmBtu).
- ---
House to send delegation to Australia
*Jakarta (ANTARA News)* - The House of Representatives (DPR)`s
Commission I dealing with political, security and foreign affairs will
send a delegation to Australia to explain the Papua issue and normalize
Indonesia-Australia relations despite criticism of the plan from other
House members and the public, a spokesman said.
Theo Sambuaga, the Comission I chairman, said at the parliament building
here Thursday the delegation would be led by Muhammad AS Hikam and
further consist of Boy M.W Saul, Yuddy Chrisnandi, Yusron Ihza and
Chudlary Syafiie Hadzami.
They would visit Australia June 12 through 16, 2006.
"The delegation will carry out a mission to maintain and promote the two
countries` relations based on mutual interest and respect," he said.
According to him, the relations had so far declined due to the
Australian government`s decision to grant temporary visas to 42
Indonesian nationals from Papua.
Theo stated the Australian government`s policy contradicted the
principles of the unitary state of Indonesia.
The policy, he said, would not only disturb the two countries relations
but also give chances for Papuans who anti Indonesia to consolidate.
"Certain parties who do not like Indonesia use the chances," Theo said.
He also said that the delegation will explain to parties in the country
like prime minister, parliament, figures, academicians and
non-governmental organizations that there is no genocide in Papua as
circulated in Australia so far.
He pointed out there are no human rights violations in the past up to now.
They also wanted to get Australian clarification on the visa granting.(*)
Jun 08 21:03
Copyright © 2006 ANTARA
- ---
Australia, Indonesia Will Discuss Security Accord, Howard Says
June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's Prime Minister John Howard said he will
discuss a security agreement when he holds talks
with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
A meeting with Yudhoyono will probably take place later this month, Howard
said today in Sydney. The security accord will
include counter-terrorism and illegal immigration, the Sydney Morning
Herald reported today.
``Our relationship with Indonesia is very important,'' Howard said. A
security agreement ``would be one of a number of things
that we would discuss.''
Relations between Indonesia and Australia soured in March after the
Australian government granted visas to a group of asylum
seekers from Papua who said the Indonesian authorities are committing
genocide in the country's easternmost province.
Indonesia withdrew its ambassador to Canberra.
Howard said he is willing ``in any document we sign'' to say Australia
respects Indonesia's territorial integrity.
``We've never had a view that Papua should separate from Indonesia,''
Howard said. ``The changes that have been made in Papua
by the Indonesian government have provided a lot more democracy, a lot more
freedom and people should bear that in mind when
they criticize Indonesia every time something goes wrong.''
Papuan rebels have been fighting for a separate state since the Dutch
colonial power ceded control to Indonesia in 1963. The
province's name was changed from Irian Jaya under a regional autonomy law
to reduce the central government's hold on outlying
provinces and quell unrest.
Papua is on the western half of the island of New Guinea, which it shares
with Papua New Guinea.
Howard and Yudhoyono will sign the security agreement next month, the
Sydney Morning Herald said, citing Indonesia's
presidential spokesman Dino Djalal.
Australia's relationship with Indonesia is ``always a bit challenging
because we're very different countries,'' Howard said.
``I have a good personal relationship with him (Yudhoyono) and there's a
lot of trust at senior government levels.''
- ---
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/asiapac/programs/s1658879.htm
Last Updated 8/06/2006 8:51:00 PM
INDONESIA: Jakarta moves to mend ties with Australia with new pact
Relations between Australia and Indonesia appear to be on the mend with the
two sides
set to sign a ground breaking security treaty. President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and Prime Minister John Howard are expected
to endorse the pact when they meet later this month.
The treaty will mark a dramatic turnaround after months of diplomatic
turmoil fuelled by Australia's granting of asylum to 42
Papuan independence supporters.
Presenter/Interviewer: Tom Fayle
Speakers: Indonesia's presidential spokesman Dino Djalal
DJALAL: Well it does indicate that we're moving forward. Our two leaders,
the president and the prime minister are going to
meet very soon, hopefully at the end of the month in Indonesia. We're
working out the details of that arrangement and I think
there has been a lot of movement and progress in the relationship.
FAYLE: Then the freeze in the relations is a thing of the past?
DJALAL: I don't think the relations have been frozen. We expressed
displeasure at the issue of the 42 Papuans who were
granted visa in Australia. But our embassies are working on both sides and
active communication between the two governments
and in fact there was a very good sympathetic telephone call by Prime
Minister John Howard to President Yudhoyono immediately
after the earthquake in Central Java.
FAYLE: Then the Australian aid for the earthquake victims has helped to
smooth the relationship?
DJALAL: Oh absolutely, absolutely. It's much appreciated. It's good that we
can always count on our close neighbour Australia
in times of humanitarian problems. The Australian Government and people
have come to our aid during the tsunami and also
during the earthquake in Nias. The cooperation on humanitarian relief has
made two countires closer recently.
FAYLE: When the two leaders meet later this month, there is an expectation
that a security treaty will be either signed or
endorsed. Will there be a direct reference to Papua in this new proposed
treaty?
DJALAL: Well, first let me say on the security treaty that officials are
talking and discussing it. There's one that has been
in the pipeline for awhile and we're trying to work it out and whether or
not it will be actually signed at the meeting
remains to be seen, but we're working very closely. Because making a treaty
is not an easy thing that you can do it
overnight, so we working on it. But we do hope of course that they'll be an
element pertaining to the issue of national unity
and territorial integrity, because we believe that the security of our two
countries are very much linked to the question of
national unity and national stability and prosperity of each of us and this
is actually the message of President Yudhoyono
and I believe this is shared also by Prime Minister Howard that the
security and the prosperity of our countries are
interlinked and this is something that should be reflected in our policy.
- ---
Freeport objects to exclusion from Norway fund
By Carole Vaporean
NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. said on
Tuesday it believes its exclusion from a Norwegian fund because of
environmental
damage is a "misunderstanding," and that it has a strong commitment to
environmental protection in its mining process.
"We have a very strong commitment to environmental protection and it's set
out in our environmental policy. Our objective is to conduct our operations
with
the least environmental impact possible," Bill Collier, spokesman for
Freeport, told Reuters.
Norway on Tuesday said its more than $240 billion oil fund would no longer
invest in companies it said were "serious and systematic" abusers of human
and
labor rights, citing the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart.
The Norwegian government also said it had decided to exclude shares in
mining
group Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold from the fund for environmental
reasons.
It blamed Freeport-McMoRan for using a natural river system for disposal of
tailings from a huge copper mine on the island of New Guinea in Indonesia.
Collier said tailings from the mine are nontoxic and that Freeport does not
use cyanide or mercury in the separation process. Instead, he said, it uses
a
physical separation or flotation process.
He said the economically valuable minerals or metals float out, and the
reagents evaporate quickly. Even a short distance from the mill, the
reagents are
already undetectable.
"The tailings themselves are nontoxic. They are simply ground up rock,
natural rock," said Collier.
He said Norway's central bank, contacted Freeport before it took the
action.
"They did contact us. We furnished them with our information, but we feel
this reflects a misunderstanding," he said.
Collier said Freeport has large demonstration projects at the Indonesian
site, where it conducts comprehensive monitoring of the water in the river
and the
area where the tailings are deposited, including sediment, plant species
and
aquatic organisms.
"And it has never detected a problem," he said.
In addition, he said, the company hires an independent environmental
consulting to run tests every three years, beginning in 1996. Those audits
as well as
monitoring Freeport does for the Indonesian government have all shown the
system works as designed.
- ---
The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, June 7, 2006
President Agrees to New Proposal on Gas Sales
President Susilo Bambang approved Tuesday a proposal to increase the
maximum
oil price used by gas producers to set the price of liquefied natural gas
(LNG) sold to Fujian, China, an official with the oil and gas regulating
agency
says.
A BP Plc-led consortium, which manages the Tangguh gas project in the
easternmost Papua province, may use the proposal to derive the price for
LNG sales to
Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd., which supplies the LNG to consumers in
China.
"The president has in principal agreed to the proposal. The maximum ceiling
for the oil price assumption will be increased to US$38 a barrel from $25 a
barrel," BPMigas chairman Kardaya Warnika said at the Presidential Palace.
Kardaya, however, said the proposal would be discussed further with CNOOC
and
the Chinese government.
LNG prices are calculated in a formula tied to global oil prices.
Kardaya said Indonesia would receive additional revenue of $1.2 billion to
$1.3 billion annually from the increase in the oil price assumption.
The initial agreement to sell the LNG from the Tangguh project was based on
a
maximum oil price of $25 a barrel. BP has 37.16 percent stake in the
project,
while CNOOC has 16.96 percent and the remainder is held by several Japanese
companies.
The Tangguh consortium has a contract with CNOOC to supply 2.6 million
metric
tons of LNG annually for 20 years starting in 2008 to generate power in
Fujian province. The contract was signed in 2002 when average oil prices
were still
below $30 per barrel.
Tangguh is producing around 8 million tons of gas a year, from gas fields
that have certified reserves of 14.4 trillion cubic feet. Its customers
include
South Korean steelmaker Posco, and U.S. Sempra Energy Corp. -- JP
- ---
Indonesia's BP Migas says Tangguh
loan deal signing likely after June 9 (Via Joyo News)
JAKARTA, June 7 (XFN-ASIA) - The 3.5 bln usd loan agreement to fund BP
Plc's Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project will likely be
signed after June 9, and not on June 9 as previously reported by local
media, said an official from the oil-and-gas regulatory body BP Migas.
Loan documents will be completed by June 9 but the signing of the loan
deal itself comes later, said BP Migas chairman Kardaya Warnika.
Last week, Bisnis Indonesia reported the expected signing date as June 9.
The report quoted Warnika as saying the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
and the Japan Bank for International Corporation (JBIC) will lend a
total of 2.3 bln usd for the project.
The other 1.2 bln usd will come from a consortium of Chinese banks, he
said.
Located in Papua, the Tangguh project is expected to start producing
LNG by late 2008, drawing its gas supplies from six gas fields in the
Bintuni area.
It has won contracts to supply LNG to China's Fujian province, South
Korea's Posco and K-Power, and Sempra Energy LNG Corp in the US.
BP holds a 37.16 pct stake in the Tangguh project while other
shareholders include China's CNOOC Ltd with 16.96 pct and MI Berua BV
with 16. 30 pct.
The project will be Indonesia's third LNG plant after Bontang in East
Kalimantan and Arun in Aceh.
- ---
Indonesia approves new oil price ceiling
of 38 usd/bbl for Tangguh LNG sales (via Joyo News)
JAKARTA, June 6 (XFN-ASIA) - Indonesia today approved a new ceiling
price for oil under a new pricing formula that will determine the
price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for shipment to China's Fujian
province from the Tangguh LNG plant in Papua.
Kardaya Warnika, chairman of Indonesia's oil and gas regulatory body
BP Migas, said the new pricing formula sets the oil ceiling price at
38 usd a barrel from 25 usd previously.
He said the government today approved the new pricing formula, which
was the result of talks between BP Migas and China's CNOOC Ltd.
'The signing (of the new pricing scheme) will take place once both
governments have agreed to it,' Warnika told reporters.
Under the current contract, the LNG price was set at 2.6 usd per mln
British thermal units (mmBtu) if world oil prices exceed 25 usd a
barrel.
Warnika did not say whether the LNG price itself had changed.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said
Indonesia and China have agreed in principle to raise the LNG price.
The Fujian government's current contract is now worth 8.5 bln usd and
covers an annual LNG supply of 2.6 mln tons over a 25-year period. The
first LNG shipment to Fujian is due by end-2008.
Indonesia has been renegotiating the LNG price after oil prices sharply
rose.
BP holds a 37.16 pct stake in the Tangguh project while other key
shareholders include China's CNOOC Ltd with 16.96 pct and MI Berua BV
with 16.30 pct.
- ---
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