PT Bukit Asam sued for not paying claims

PT Adiputera Dewasajaya is suing state owned coal mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) for the later's failure to pay its claims worth Rp 19.03 billion, the company's lawyer said.

M. Yusuf, a lawyer representing PT Adiputera, said on Tuesday that the coal mining company had breached the article five of the contract agreement, which required PTBA to pay his client for its works to dig soil and remove the overburden in the company's mining site in Air Laya.

The works were finished in April 17, 1998 but his client had never received the payment from PTBA. Yusuf said that his client demanded PTBA to pay all of its claims and their interest.

Meanwhile, the head of the logistics department of PTBA, Brikman Sinaga, aknowledged the existence of the claim but he denied that the coal mining had refused to settle PT Adiputera's claims.

He said that the payment was supended because PT Adiputera was involved in a "cessie" agreement with Bank Universal, which required PTBA to pay PT Adiputera' claims through the bank.

But PT Adiputera ruled out the involvement of the third party in its claim payment. (*)