Cool! Freeport Mine Production Not Affected By The COVID-19 Pandemic

Illustration. (Photo: Freeport Indonesia)

JAKARTA - PT Freeport Indonesia's management ensures that mining production in the form of gold, copper and silver ore produced from the mining operational area in Tembagapura District, Mimika Regency, Papua Province is still meeting the target as agreed with the government.

VP Govrel PT Freeport Indonesia, Johnny Lingga said, until the second quarter of 2020 the company's production met the target.

"Our target has not changed, it remains the same as at the beginning of the year despite facing difficult times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Up to the second quarter of this year mining production has met the target. This is certainly very encouraging," said Johnny as quoted by Antara, Thursday, August 13.

If there are no significant obstacles going forward, he said, by the end of 2020 it is expected that Freeport mine production can meet the target. This is considered to be encouraging news, especially for Mimika Regency as a producing region considering that most of the revenue from the region which comes from mining tax revenue sharing, royalties and others is highly dependent on Freeport's mining operations.

"To be honest, the local revenue for Mimika Regency, whether it comes from taxes, royalties and others, is very dependent on the mining sector. Hopefully there are no obstacles so that the Mimika regional revenue target from these sectors will not change. The decline in production will certainly have a direct impact on regional revenues in Mimika Regency, "he explained.

Since last March PT Freeport Indonesia has faced serious risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has spread to the Tembagapura area and exposed hundreds of employees.

In order to reduce the spread of COVID-19 cases in the Tembagapura area, the company plans to reduce the density of the population of employees and their families living in the Tembagapura area to only around 12,500 people.

"Our target that will be left in Tembagapura is only 12,500 people. Previously the population in Tembagapura reached 17,000 people. Now there are only around 13,500 people left," said Johnny.

Johnny emphasized that the reduction in the employee population in the Tembagapura area does not mean that some employees (either permanent Freeport employees or employees of subcontractor companies) will be terminated.

"It does not mean that the others will be eliminated, it is not like that. But because we are currently in a situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the others are on leave from work and others. Their rights are still paid as usual, no less than a penny. Companies must do so. This is part of implementing health protocols for the prevention of COVID-19 in terms of physical distancing, "explained Johnny.

According to him, every employee who wants to leave for work leave from Tembagapura, either to Timika or outside the region, now has to pass a nose and throat swab sample examination using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) equipment.

The same thing also applies to employees who want to return to Tembagapura from Timika or from their area of origin, according to Johnny Lingga, must go through a swab and throat sample examination and are declared free of COVID-19.

"All employee traffic, both from Tembagapura to Timika and vice versa, must be ensured that they are healthy or free of COVID-19," he explained.