The Indonesian government has welcomed PT Freeport Indonesia's decision to build two smelters in Indonesia, with one of them in the restive province of Papua.
Freeport mine, Indonesia, Papua Photo: AFP
The company has buckled to pressure after comments last week from the Governor of Papua, Lukas Enembe, who criticised the subsidiary of the US company Freeport McMoRan, for not investing in development in the remote province.
The Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, Sudirman Said, says smelters will be built in Greik, on Java, and also in Papua.
In an exclusive interview with Tempo last week, Freeport Indonesia's Director, Maroef Sjamsoeddin, said that a number of regional heads in Papua disagreed with Freeport's decision to only build the smelter in Gresik.