Freeport Operation Extension: Extend the Crisis and Suffering in Papua Land

Freeport (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - WALHI considers the extension of the MoU between the Government and Freeport-McMoRan Inc regarding the continuation of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) operations until the life of copper and gold reserves in Papua to be a policy that will continue the crisis and suffering in the land of Papua.

Policies that merely continue extractive economic practices and are oblivious to ensuring environmental recovery and the rights of Papuan indigenous peoples. The ambition to boost investment through the extension of PT Freeport operations and plans for downstream processing with promises of the development of social facilities and an increase in state revenues, is not commensurate with the continuation of the ecological and humanitarian crisis in the Land of Papua.

WALHI's National Executive Director, Boy Jerry Even Sembiring, assessed that the granting of a lifetime contract through the MoU was a form of legitimacy for unlimited exploitation in Papua.

"This MoU is not merely extending the operating time, but also removing space for efforts to restore the Papua ecosystem which has been damaged for more than 50 years. The state is actually a facilitator of ecological disasters that threaten the sustainability of the environment and the lives of the indigenous people of Papua," said Boy in his statement, Saturday, February 21.

Papua's non-participation in the process of extending Freeport's operations

The process of the MoU which will be the basis for the adjustment of the IUPK of PT Freeport is considered by WALHI to be carried out in a closed manner, not transparent, and without considering the meaningful participation of various components of the indigenous people and the original people of Papua. This attitude again shows the government's bias towards PT Freeport. The government seems to be a spokesperson and an extension of the investment arm. It does not take a position as part of Papua, and puts its bias on the indigenous people and the original people of Papua as well as environmental interests which for decades have been victims of exploitation.

"This is the most rational reason to show why WALHI rejects the government's policy to extend Freeport's operations. The obvious condition will only lock Papua in a new cycle of destruction, deepen the ecological crisis, and ignore justice for the people of Papua," said Boy.

In WALHI's records, Freeport's activities in Papua have caused environmental damage, such as river pollution due to tailing waste to repressive practices that eliminate and separate the sacred relationship between the indigenous people of Papua (OAP) and their natural environment. The adverse ecological and social impacts experienced by the Amugne and Kamoro Indigenous Peoples have never been considered by the government. The natural environment of Papua is still positioned as an object of monetization by the government.

In the last five years (2019-2025), the operations of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) have repeatedly caused serious environmental violations in Central Papua. Since 2019, the discharge of 200,000 tons of tailings per day into rivers such as Aghawagon and Otomona has caused copper levels in the estuaries to increase to 0.5 mg/L, almost 40 times above the safe limit. In the same period, the increase in mine acid water caused a decrease in water pH to 3.5, and deforestation reached 22,000 hectares, followed by sedimentation in the Ajkwa estuary which eliminated the traditional Kamoro indigenous people's path.

Entering 2023, PTFI's operations released around 2.5 million tons of greenhouse gases (GHG), while the increased landslide risk of 15-20% was then seen clearly through the wet material incident in the Grasberg Block Cave in September 2025. The impact on the community is also getting heavier year by year. During this period, the catch of fish by the Amungme and Kamoro communities decreased by 60% as a result of river pollution, while the ISPA cases increased by 12 percent in Mimika.