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Home › Dodgy Deals ›
Dodgy Deal
Kaltim Prima Coal mineIndonesia

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Lead organisation:
BankTrack
Contact:

Alex Scrivener, Program Officer, Global Justice Now

Last update: 2016-10-18 21:56:59

Project – On record

This profile is no longer actively maintained, with the information now possibly out of date
Lead organisation:
BankTrack
Contact:

Alex Scrivener, Program Officer, Global Justice Now

Last update: 2016-10-18 21:56:59
Why this profile?

What must happen

We call on all banks to fully phase out their finance for the coal mining industry. In the mean time, all banks, financiers and shareholders of Bumi Resources should use their influence to ensure the problems of KPC are addressed. If rapid progress is not made, they should withdraw their finance for the company and commit not to provide further finance until the issues are addressed.

About
Sectors Coal Mining
Location
Website http://www.kpc.co.id/

PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), located in the province of East Kalimantan, is the biggest coal mine in Indonesia. The KPC project produces around 50 million tonnes a year, making it one of the world’s largest coal mines. The KPC concession areas cover a vast 90,000 hectares in three districts, encompassing several villages, bordering on the East Kutai National Park, which has been compromised by the presence of the mines. The projects' shareholders are: PT Sitrade coal (32.4%), Bhira Investments Limited (30%), PT. Bumi Resources (13.6%), Sangatta Holding Limited (9.5%), Kalimantan Coal Limited (9.5%), Kutai Timur Sejahtera (5%).

Impacts

Social and human rights impacts

The human impact of the KPC project has been stark. Villages such as Segading, Sepaso and Sekerat in the Bengalon mining concession have experienced serious problems as a result of the mining. While families of those directly employed by the mine have benefitted from jobs, the communities as a whole have had to deal with significant water pollution, loss of land and other problems. 

Villagers report serious dust and noise disruptions from blasting, which occurs frequently without any prior announcement. The blasting has shattered window panes and caused cracks in the buildings. Children wake up crying in shock and fear from nighttime blasting.

The village of Segading is home to a community of indigenous people called the Dayak Basap. When the KPC coal mining company first arrived in the region, the members of community decided to agree to move from their ancestral land in order to take advantage of the benefits the mining company promised. Unfortunately for the Dayak Basap, not only did these benefits fail to materialise but, as the mine expanded, the community was then forced to move twice more against their will. Currently, the leader of the village, Gagay, is fighting to prevent the KPC mining company from forcibly displacing them for a fourth time to a plot of land that is much smaller than the land they are being told to leave.

The older Sangatta mine has also caused a lot of damage since it became operational in 1992. For example, in 2001, farmers from the village of Kabojaya near the Sangatta pit protested the fact that they could no longer use the local water supply or grow crops as a result of pollution from the mine. Protests against KPC from farming communities led the company to hire Group 4 Securicor (now G4S) to provide security.

KPC has also been associated with human rights abuses according to a report released in August 2014 by JATAM, Indonesia’s Mining Advocacy Network. According to interviews with local communities and other research undertaken by JATAM in June 2014, the KPC mine has had the following impacts:

  • KPC has been intimidating people to force them to move. The local municipality has stopped providing health workers or teachers to the village. Villagers from Keraitan and other relocation sites report having insufficient land to cultivate or hunt.
  • Villagers living around the mining operation have no access to electricity despite the fact that KPC has been mining the area for more than 20 years and have installed 18.9 megawatt of thermal generation capacity.
  • Communities have lost land to the mining pits. People have been offered meager amounts of compensation for lost land, fruit trees and other resources.
  • Villagers report that there has been no aid or assistance from KPC or the government of East Kutai Regency. “We feel that KPC wants to drive us out of our village, our homeland”, said one interviewee.

One study, supported by the KPC mining company and funded by the World Bank, found that the small amount of money received in compensation and jobs has gone almost completely to the men. With local women seeing almost no benefit and, in cases where they lose their farming role, becoming economically dependent on their husbands.


Environmental and climate impacts

The KPC concession areas cover a vast 90,000 hectares, encompassing several villages. It borders on the East Kutai National Park, which has been compromised by the presence of the mines. By 2008, an estimated 75 percent of the forest area, supposedly "protected" as part of the East Kutai National Park, had already been destroyed; a process exacerbated by the presence of mining companies.

KPC has also been associated with massive environmental contamination, according to a report released in August 2014 by JATAM, Indonesia’s Mining Advocacy Network. According to interviews with local communities and other research undertaken by JATAM in June 2014, the KPC mine has had the following impacts:

  • Wastewater from KPC’s mines is frequently discharged untreated into the Sangatta and Bengalon Rivers, contaminating river water that is used by villages downstream, killing fish and other aquatic organisms. Rivers are contaminated with heavy metals and suspended solids. Mine drainage has caused water to become either acid or alkaline.
  • Studies have shown that the Sangatta River is especially contaminated with heavy metals, with lead concentration reaching 18 times the regulated level. According to a researcher from the Agricultural University of Sangatta, the river water is no longer safe to be consumed due to the risk of skin disease and carcinogenicity. Communities living along the Keraitan River now have to buy water for their daily needs as the river water is contaminated.
  • The mine has destroyed wetlands, forests and agricultural soils with high water retention capacity, leading to exacerbated flooding downstream. KPC’s mining operation has destroyed the soil over an area of 90,000 hectares, which has radically altered the hydrology of the entire Sangatta River system. Villagers report frequent flood events affecting at least three villages and a main road thoroughfare in the region. Villagers report that flooding can persist for a week and that they have received no aid or compensation from the government or KPC.
  • Indigenous Basap Dayak people have also reported massive fish kills in the Keraitan River due to contamination by KPC pit B. The dead fish used to be edible species traditionally caught by the community. Their depletion has resulted in economic and nutritional losses.
Financiers
Institution type
Finance type
Year
Companies

Bumi Resources

Indonesia
Profile
Website
No companies
News
BankTrack
Partners
Blog
External
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

19 die at former mining sites in East Kalimantan

2016-01-05 | The Jakarta Post
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Bumi’s Deadly Coal

New report reveals extensive water contamination and human rights violations by Bumi’s KPC coal mine
2014-08-21 | Jakarta | JATAM and Greenpeace
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Barclays AGM: Protestors to target Barclays for bankrolling coal

2014-04-23 | London | World Development Movement
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

Dirty Money - an interactive documentary

Watch WDM's online, interactive documentary exploring how UK banks are financing coal mining in Indonesia.
2013-11-21 | London | World Development Movement
Blog
BankTrack news BankTrack blog Partner news Partner blog

UK banks financing coal boom destroying Borneo rainforests

2013-10-01 | London | World Development Movement
Resources
Documents
Links
2014-08-21 00:00:00

PT KPC/Bumi Resources Deadly Coal

Ecological and Social Crisis caused by KPC/Bumi Resources’ Coal Production
NGO document
2014-08-21 00:00:00 | JATAM
2013-09-30 00:00:00

Banking while Borneo burns

How the UK financial sector is bankrolling Indonesia's fossil fuel boom
NGO document
2013-09-30 00:00:00 | World Development Movement
2010-01-01 00:00:00

Impacts of Mining on Women and Youth in Indonesia: Two Mining Locations

Other document
2010-01-01 00:00:00 | Dr Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt and Ms Petra Mahy

SourceWatch Kaltim Prima Coal Project webpage

Profile of the Kaltim Prima Coal Project as part of the Coal Issues portal on SourceWatch, a project of CoalSwarm and the Center for Media and Democracy.

Company overview of PT Kaltim Prima coal by Bloomberg

PT Kaltim Prima Coal engages in the mining and sale of coal for domestic and international customers from various industrial sectors. The company offers high volatile bituminous coal and sub-bituminous coal.
Updates

2016

2016-01-05 00:00:00 | 19 die at former mining sites in East Kalimantan

According to The Jakarta Post: Nineteen people including children and teenagers drowned in 2015 at former mining sites in Samarinda and Kutai Kartanegara (Kukar), East Kalimantan. The East Kalimantan Network for Mining Advocacy (Jatam) noted that four of the victims died within a span of only 90 days. "That's why we urge the Kukar acting regent and East Kalimantan governor to declare an emergency situation on mining holes and to conduct audits on all mines in Kukar and Samarinda," Merah Johansyah of East Kalimantan Jatam said.

2015

2015-09-28 00:00:00 | Bumi Resources revises debt restructuring plan

Bumi Resources said it plans to put forward to creditors a revised debt restructuring plan to take into account reduced cash flows as a result of depressed coal prices. The company has total outstanding debts of USD3.984 billion owed to creditors including China Investment Corp, China Development Bank and bondholders, it said in a stock exchange filing (source www.uk.reuters.com).

2014

2014-12-02 00:00:00 | S&P cuts rating on Indonesia's Bumi Resources

Reuters: Standard & Poor's on Tuesday cut its corporate credit rating on PT Bumi Resources Tbk to "default" from "selective default", saying that Indonesia's biggest coal miner is unlikely to service any of its debt for at least the next six months. Three units of Bumi Resources last week obtained a six-month moratorium in a Singapore court against legal action from creditors. The companies had also filed for protection from creditors in a United States court.

2014-09-08 00:00:00 | Sovereign wealth fund CIC at risk with Bumi investment

According to The South China Morning Post: Sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC) risks sinking deeper into the quagmire of its investment in Bumi Resources, Indonesia's biggest coal miner, which is beset by financial woes and allegations of environmental damage. In September 2009, CIC lent USD1.9 billion to Bumi, a risky move since Bumi has incurred a lot of debt over the past decade.

2013

2013-02-13 00:00:00 | Agreement Reached in Separation of Bakrie Group and Bumi Plc

On Februari 12, 2013 it was announced that the Bakrie Group, one of Indonesia's most controversial and richest conglomerates, has signed a heads of terms agreement that sets out conditions for the Bakrie's withdrawal from London-listed coal miner Bumi Plc. Bumi Plc, having the largest coal deposits in Indonesia at its disposal, was established in 2010 by British financier Nathaniel Rothschild and the Bakrie Group, to bring coal assets to European investors (source www.indonesia-investment.com).

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