REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TIMIKA -- Amungme community leader Yosep Yopi Kilangin criticized the policy of PT Freeport and its subcontractor company to sack thousands of workers following a crisis due to a deadlock in negotiations with the government, early February.
"I think the policy of mass layoffs of thousands of employees does not make sense. This is a clear violation of human rights," Kilangin, the son of late Mozes Kilangin who joined the signing of the document of the "January Agreement 1974," remarked here on Wednesday.
The January Agreement 1974 was the initial impetus to the commencement of exports of copper ores produced by the Freeport mining company in Tembagapura, Papua. As a result of the policy of mass layoffs, Kilangin noted that thousands of employees of Freeport and the subcontractor companies had lost their livelihoods, and some of them had even suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack.
"Yes, I have received a report that there were two people who died due to a heart attack as soon as they received a notification about the layoffs; and I do not know what will be the fate of their children, wives, and their families," he affirmed.
Kilangin made the statement while referring to the issuance of Government Regulation No.1 of 2017 as a trigger of the humanitarian catastrophe for the thousands of employees who experienced mass layoffs and others who are awaiting a similar fate.
Earlier on Tuesday, hundreds of Freeport workers from the Freeport Care Solidarity Movement had rallied in front of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in Jakarta to voice their aspirations and demands to President Joko Widodo. The demonstrators constituted Freeport Indonesia's workforce, including private workers, contractors, and sub-contractors from Timika, Jayapura, and Jakarta.
They were demanding that the government should solve the prolonged polemic with Freeport Indonesia Ltd, as the jobs of around 32 thousand workers were at stake. The second demand put forth to the president was to resolve the problems related to the business permit and to pay greater attention to the people in Papua.
The last demand made to the government was to find a solution for the seven tribes in Mimika living around the mining area and facing several problems. Through the street demonstration, the masses voiced fears that the polemic can have a negative impact on budget allocation for the Mimika area, as around 90 percent of it is sourced from Freeport.
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