25 Oct 2011

Blockades amid Papua mine strike stop supplies

7:19 pm on 25 October 2011

Papuans living near the Grasberg mine operated by the US mining company Freeport-McMoRan say they are running out of food and medicine as Indonesian security forces maintain their blockade of the road leading to the mine.

The Jakarta Globe says the blockade has severely impacted on the local population.

A strike by thousands of mine workers for better pay is in its second months and the security situation has deteriorated.

Unknown gunmen killed three people in separate attacks near the mine this month.

Freeport has blamed strikers for several earlier incidents, including a clash with police that left two people dead and an alleged attack on a mine pipeline.

Negotiations to settle the strike have been unsuccessful.