Indonesian military admits being paid by US mining firm

John Aglionby in Jakarta
Friday December 30, 2005
The Guardian


Indonesia's military admitted yesterday that officers received payments from a local subsidiary of the American mining giant Freeport-McMoRan to guard its huge Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua, the western, Indonesian, half of New Guinea island.

The admission comes after a report in the New York Times claimed that Freeport Indonesia paid military and police officers, and several army units £11.7m from 1998 to 2004. Some officers allegedly received tens of thousands of pounds. If they kept any of the money themselves, it would be a criminal offence.


The scandal might have significant implications for the Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto, which had a 12% stake in Freeport-McMoRan from 1995 until last year. It still has a 40% share of all deposits discovered in the mine after 1994.

It could also raise concerns for BP, which is developing a multibillion pound gas field in Papua but has yet to engage the military in its site security.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/indonesia/Story/0,2763,1675232,00.html

McMoRan?

What high priced consultant came up with that name for the company. McMoRan?

On another note, Freeport-McMoRan's partner in their Indonesian mine is the Indonesian government, so....I guess in a roundabout way they were just paying their partner's employees.

McMoRan. What a name.

I just couldn't believe it. We're bribing the military in Indonesia? Is there a remote corner of the world where we're not involved in one way or another.

Or do we have our fingers in every damn country? Maybe I'll find out we're in Boreo, bribing the local head hunters to let us harvest all their nutmeg nuts. Or maybe Madagascar, where we've bribed the local big shot to take all his fence posts because we need them back home.

Someone recently said that if everyone were to live like us here in the U.S., they would need 4 PLANETS. That' how much we suck up. We're like a giant vacuum-cleaner, stripping this planet and absconding with.