National

Lawsuit Officially Lodged Against Newmont
Thursday, 10 March, 2005 | 18:44 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:: State Minister for the Environment Rahmat Witoelar has officially lodged a civil lawsuit against PT Newmont Minahasa Raya and the company’s President Director Robert Hubert Ness.
The lawsuit was lodged yesterday (9/3) at the South Jakarta District Court by the government’s team of lawyers, made up of Jamdatun Harprileny Soebiantoro, Didik Sukarno, Dian Arfiani, Santoso, Purwani Utami, Susdianto and Bimo Prayogo, as well as one private legal representative Bambang Widjajanto.
“It is true that the Attorney General already submitted the lawsuit on the special authority of the minister in January 2005,” said the Attorney General’s spokeperson R.J. Soehandojo yesterday in Jakarta.

Minister Rahmat is charging Newmont and Robert Ness with violating Article 22 clause 1 of the State Decree regarding the Environment.
Newmont and Robert Ness are considered to be responsible for the pollution that caused great damage to the environment as well as material losses for the local people in the Buyat Pante area, East Ratatotok Subdistrict, Minahasa, North Sulawesi.

In the lawsuit, the State Minister for the Environment is asking for material compensation of US$117.68 million and non material compensation of Rp150 billion.
The clerk of the court Suratno confirmed that the South Jakarta District Court yesterday received the 26-page lawsuit file.
“The judges will be appointed next week and the trial will begin two or three weeks later,” he said.

According to Newmont however, the company has not yet received any official notice regarding the lawsuit.
Newmont’s lawyer Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan said that if it were true that there was such a lawsuit, this would be unreasonable because the criminal case is still in process.
“Having both a criminal and civil case being tried at the same time is an indication of uncertainty as regards law enforcement,” Pangaribuan said yesterday in Jakarta.
According to Pangaribuan, Newmont considers that the Indonesian Government is not being fair because as a foreign investor the company signed a contract with the government and is now being sued by the State Minister of Environment, who is part of the Indonesian government.

Pangaribuan went on to say that in Newmont’s contract with the government it states that any disagreement which occurs will be resolved through conciliation or arbitration according to international rules of arbitration.
Based on this, his client is now considering taking the case to international arbitration.
“With its civil claim at South Jakarta District Court, the government has blundered,” said Pangaribuan.

Badriah-Tempo