District court has yet to close Newmont's operation

The Tondano District Court in North Sulawesi had yet temporarily close the mining operation of gold mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya despite the approval of the provincial high court, Manado Post reported.

Judge Suatan said on Saturday during the hearing of the tax dispute between the company and the Minahasa regency the District Court has yet to complete "administrative process" to close the company's operation.

The District Court earlier issued a provisional ruling to temporarily close the operation of the gold mining company while the hearing of its dispute with the regency was completed. The District Court however could not execute the ruling until it was approved by the provincial high court.

The regency sued the company in the court following the latter's refusal to pay taxes on its overburden, which is not taxable under its mining contract.

The paper said the lawyers representing the regency's administration called on the court to soon execute the suspension ruling.

The hearing was adjourned until April 8 at the request of Newmont's lawyers who cited that the verification team to study the amount of the overburden extracted by the company had yet complete its task.

The verification team was formed at the request of Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a bid to seek an out-of-court solution to the lingering dispute.

The regency's lawyers Rico Pandeiroth and Jerry Pattilima said they were disappointed by the fact that the Ministry's officials, who were part of the team, appeared to take sides with Newmont

Meanwhile, the paper quoted Newmont's government and community relations manager Tri Harjono as saying in a statement that the company welcome the execution of the suspension ruling, but, he said, the company would seek to find the best solution to alleviate the negative impact to thousands of workers of the company.

"It's too early to predict its negative impacts on the workers and the citizens whose livelihood depended on Newmont's operation," Tri said.

He said Newmont appreciates the Minister's initiative to establish the verification team, adding that the case was a case of local politics, which does not reflect the investment policy of the Indonesian government.

He further said Newmont was happy about the fact that it was given chances to present expert witness in the next hearing scheduled for April 8. (*)