REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAYAPURA -- A local legislator has urged the US-based copper and gold mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia to build a smelter in Papua as required by the law.
Commission A chairman of the Local Legislative Assembly (DPRD) Reben Magai said that Law No.l 4/2009 on Mineral and Coal has been effective (beginning early this year) which requires mining firms to build smelter to purify their mineral products before they could export them.
He said that Freeport must meet the requirement to build a smelter before it could extend its mining license.
"The requirement is a state policy that must be respected. Each mining firm is obligated to build a smelter in its mining location," he told Antara here on Tuesday.
He said that by developing a smelter in the mining location it would help absorb human resources in Papua, particularly the natives.
"So far, the people of Papua do not know how many of their natural resources have been exploited and taken out of the province by Freeport. The law on mineral resources and coal is in line with the desire of the Papua governor to move Freeport office in Jakarta to Papua," he said.
Industry Minister MS Hidayat has earlier stated that Freeport must build a smelter in Indonesia in 2014 at the latest as required by Law No. 4/2009.
He said that Freeport must build a smelter to purify its copper concentrate products in Indonesia in 2014 at the latest. If it did not build a smelter, its copper concentrate products must be processed by other domestic firms' smelters.
The minister did not deny that building a smelter would need a huge investment, yet it could not become a reason for Freeport why it could not develop a smelter.
Freeport has complained the deadline of 2014 to build a smelter. It said that the deadline is too short. Based on a study, it said, the construction of a smelter in Indonesia is not economically viable so that it asks that the government would assist in providing an investment incentive for the construction of its smelter.
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