Erick Thohir Opens His Voice About 7 Freeport Workers Still Stuck In Underground Mines

SOE Minister Erick Thohir. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - SOE Minister Erick Thohir opened his voice regarding seven PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) workers who were trapped by landslides at the Grassberg Block Cave (GBC) underground mine.

He expressed concern over the incident that happened to PTFI workers.

For your information, the workers have been trapped since Monday, September 8 at 22.00 WIT. It has been seven days since the evacuation of workers has been carried out, but so far it has not yielded results.

"I am certainly concerned, and I am sure that Freeport has a maximum mechanism system," said Erick when met at the DPR RI Building, Jakarta, Monday, September 15.

He also hopes that the mechanism carried out by Freeport Indonesia in efforts to evacuate its workers will bear fruit.

"And we pray for our brothers and sisters," he said.

Separately, the Director General of Mineral and Coal (Minerba) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Tri Winarno, revealed that there were two foreign nationals (WNA) among the seven workers who were still trapped in the underground mine GBC, Mimika Regency, Central Papua.

Lebih lanjut, Tri bilang, kedua pekerja asing tersebut berasal dari Chile dan Afrika Selatan. Sedangkan lima lainnya adalah warga negara Indonesia (WNI).

“Ada, ada WNA-nya, satu Chile, satu Afrika Selatan, yang 5 Indonesia. Tapi udah, untuk komunikasi sama kedutaan masing-masing sudah” ujar Tri saat ditemui di Gedung DPR RI.

Tri juga menegaskan proses evakuasi terhadap tujuh pekerja tersebut masih berlangsung. Namun hingga kini seluruh pekerja yang terjebak belum berhasil ditemukan.

“Ya ini tetap diupayakan ini, diupayakan ini mengeluarkan material-material yang nutup ini,” tuturnya.

Furthermore, Tri said, the two foreign workers came from Chile and South Africa. While the other five are Indonesian citizens (WNI).

"Yes, there are foreigners, one Chile, one South Africa, the 5th Indonesia. But already, for communication with each embassy, Tri said when met at the DPR RI Building.

Tri also emphasized that the evacuation process for the seven workers was still ongoing. However, until now all the trapped workers have not been found.

"Yes, this is still being pursued, efforts are being made to issue these nutup materials," he said.