An industrial dispute at Freeport, the world’s biggest gold mine in Indonesia’s Papua province, has turned ugly, after a striking worker was shot dead by police.
Seven others were critically wounded when officers tried to stop striking workers from going into a facility at the mining complex on Monday.
About 8,000 workers have been on strike for almost a month at the US-owned Freeport McMoran copper and gold mine.
Human rights activists and workers say it’s time the Indonesian Government intervened, to help negotiate a peaceful outcome.
In June 2011 The Alliance of Churches in the Land of Papua, PGGP, called on the government to revise the work contract concluded with the mining company, Freeport.
‘The presence of this foreign company in the district of Mimika has not resulted in any improvements in the conditions of the local people,’ said Wiem Maury, secretary of the PGGP. He said that in addition to this, the very presence of Freeport in the area has always been a very serious problem for the people.
‘The welfare of the people who are the true owners of the rich natural resource continue to be a matter of great concern. Nor is there any guarantee about security in the area either,’ he added..
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