Total ready to face Gapensi's head at court

French oil and gas company Total Indonesie said on Tuesday it was ready to face the lawsuit filed by an East Kalimantan-based contractor over a tender dispute, Kaltim post reported.

Head of Total's communication department for East Kalimantan Nurul Fazrie said the French company would first try to seek an out-of-court settlement to its dispute PT Meranti Indah, which is owned by Sappe, head of the Balikpapan chapter of the Association of Indonesian Construction Company.

If it failed to reach an out-of-court settlement, Total will be prepared to face the lawsuit, Nurul said.

Sappe's lawyer Yusuf Mustafa earlier said he would file a suit against Total, demanding Rp 10 billion in compensation for his client's loss caused by Total's unilateral cancellation of the project of constructing Total's new office. The paper did not reveal where the new office would be built.

Yusuf claimed that Meranti Indah had won the bidding before Total announced that the project had been cancelled as part of the company's belt-tightening program to cope with the prolonged economic crisis.

According Yusuf, Meranti Indah had suffered hundreds of millions of rupiah due to the cancellation of the project since it had placed order for building materials with several suppliers with upfront payment.

Nurul said the bidding process was still in the phase of opening the bid proposals of the bidders and there was not yet any decision on the winner when Total cancelled the project on the order of its head office.

Nurul said Total would hold a discussion with Sappe today (Wednesday). (*)