TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - PT Freeport Indonesia executive director Celementino Lamury and executive vice president Tony Wenas visited the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on Tuesday, March 14, 2017.
The two high-ranking officers were scheduled to meet Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan and deputy minister Arcandra Tahar.
"I'll give a comment after the meeting. I can't talk yet," Tony told journalist at the Ministry' s office in Jakarta on Tuesday, March 14, 2017.
Earlier, it was confirmed that the US Vice President Mike Pence will visit Indonesia to discuss various topics, including Freeport.
"There are two topics to be discussed, namely terrorism and Freeport," Hikmahanto Juwana, international law professor at the University of Indonesia, said in a press release in Jakarta on Monday, March 13, 2017.
Hikmahanto suggested that the government should tell Pence that Indonesia had provided Freeport with options.
"The government is not oppressing Freeport," Hikmahanto added.
Among the options are letting Freeport to stick with the Contract of Works (CoW), with a condition that the company must purify its minerals in Indonesia; or shifting to a special mining permit and continue exporting minerals.
Hikmahanto added that the United States should not pressure the Indonesian government for practicing democracy. Hikmahanto argued that Indonesia must consider aspirations voiced by its people. Therefore, Freeport should not challenge Indonesia’s sovereignty and force the country to submit to the pressure from the US government.
DESTRIANITA | GHOIDA RAHMAH