By Markus Junianto Sihaloho

The House of Representatives on Thursday demanded an immediate investigation into accusations that PT Freeport Indonesia was illegally mining uranium in secret in Papua, despite the widely-held belief that the nation does not possess viable deposits of the strictly controlled mineral. The House said the miner would need to provide clarification on the matter.

Hazrul Azwar, chairman of the House’s United Development Party (PPP), said the government must take immediate steps to investigate the claims, which were made by a Papuan councilor on Wednesday.

“That is a big problem. A special team must be established to investigate the matter, whether or not they are really mining uranium,” Hazrul said, adding that if the allegations were true, Freeport could be penalized, including changes to their operating contract with the government.

“Contract revision would mean that they must pay much, much more to the country, if it is proven true that they were indeed mining uranium.”
His statement comes after Yan Mandenas, a member of the Papua Legislative Council, claimed that Freeport had been covertly mining uranium for at least the last eight months.

“Our informers within the Freeport concession tell us that this has gone on for months,” Yan said.
“What Freeport is doing is blatant theft, because they do not have a permit to mine uranium. They’re looting Papua’s natural wealth,” Yan said.

He added that the company had a history of mining for materials not listed in its permits, claiming Freeport had illegally mined coal and other minerals at its giant Grasberg gold and copper mine since 1964.
Yan also said the provincial council would establish a committee to inspect the mine.

Golkar lawmaker Satya W Yudha said on Thursday that Freeport must be penalized with sanctions if it was proven that it had violated its contract by mining uranium near Grasberg.

“Anywhere in the world, such a contract violation could be greeted with immediate termination of contract. I think the company must openly clarify the allegation. The government must also establish an independent task force to investigate it,” Satya said.

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker Zulkifliemansyah said most lawmakers were surprised to hear the Papuan councilor’s claim, because they only knew of copper mining in the area. Zulkifliemansyah said that the Papuan councilor must prove his statement.

“If he can prove that, I believe the House will support him,” Zulkifliemansyah said.
Freeport, however, has denied all the allegation, saying it only mines minerals for which it has secured permits.
Uranium is not commonly found in the vicinity of copper and gold deposits.

Source : JakartaGlobe, July 16, 2010