(PT Sawit Nusa Timur, PT Tebu Nusa Timur, PT Muting Mekar Hijau)
An Australian company that pioneers mining and plantations in Indonesia for Western Investors. Believed to be no longer active in Merauke after losing a long legal battle |
Last Updated 29/07/2013
Company Description: Teknix Capital is a company based in Indonesia but run mostly by Australians who aim to invest in businesses and then sell them to established companies when they become successful.
Owned by: The company was founded in 2005 with capital from unnamed Australian sources. The two men who set up the company are Andrew Purcell, former investment banker with Credit Suisse bank in Hong Kong and Michael Black, who was previously the deputy CEO of notorious forest plunderer Asia Pulp and Paper.1
Plans in Merauke: Back in 2007 Teknix Capital had huge plans to use 540,000 hectares of land in Merauke for varied businesses, including timber, oil palm and sugar, through the companies they formed for this project, PT Muting Mekar Hijau, PT Sawit Nusa Timur and PT Tebu Nusa Timur, all headed by Michael Black.2 This plan, however got scaled down, possibly because the Papuan provincial government did not give its consent.3 In the end only PT Sawit Nusa Timur kept its plans to go ahead with an investment, which was to be a 35,000 hectare oil palm plantation.
However, in January 2010, Merauke regency government revoked PT Sawit Nusa Timur’s location permit, claiming they had not taken steps to develop the area, including paying compensation to local people. Four days later they gave permits to other companies belonging to the Central Cipta Murdaya group, PT Hardaya Sawit Plantations and PT Hardaya Sugar Plantations. PT Sawit Nusa Timur filed a legal case against the local government. PT Sawit Nusa Timur won in the High Court, which in January 2011 ordered the Merauke regency to cancel the Hardaya plantations’ permits. However, the case was brought to the Supreme Court where this decision was again overturned in favour of the Hardaya companies, leaving PT Sawit Nusa Timur without a land concession.4
The court’s final decision was only taken in July 2011, and with no news since then it appears that Teknix Capital have no further interest in Merauke.
Other Conflicts around West Papua and Indonesia: Teknix Capital is also operating a Manganese mine in Lemarang, Flores. Michael Black and another Teknix employee have been appointed to the board of Realm Resources, a company they have supported to open coal mines in East Kalimantan.5
Address: Level 11 Chase Plaza – Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 21, Jakarta Selatan 12920 INDONESIA
Tel: +62 (21) 570-4255
1. Company webpage: http://www.teknixcap.com
2. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/infosawit/message/4221
http://kwurunini.blogspot.com/2008/12/sawit-di-merauke.html
3. http://www.faithbasednetworkonwestpapua.org/news_release/tussle_for_papuas_forests
4. Supreme court decsion: http://putusan.mahkamahagung.go.id/putusan/downloadpdf/9d38c99d41e60591bf002eb04458ca4a/pdf
5. http://www.msh.net.au/IRM/Company/ShowPage.aspx/PDFs/1271-46208376/CoalResourcesIncreaseto79MtatKatinganRiaIndonesia