31 August 2023
Music is not just playing a musical instrument for Tony Wenas. Music is inseparable from his life as the President Director of PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI). According to Tony, music is not just a hobby but a profession because of the similarities between making music and running the mining company he leads.
Therefore, Tony always applies the principle that leading a company is like orchestrating a band. "As the leader of the band, it's like managing each member, whether when I dominate or reduce the portion of the play to build harmony in one band. The same goes for the company," he said in a Jadi Beginu interview session on the Kompas.com YouTube channel on Tuesday (29/8/2023). "I may not be an expert in accounting. I am also not an expert in mining. I am not an expert in corporate communication. But what is needed is how to organize all these fields to collaborate and create harmony within the company to achieve the set goals," Tony added.
For information, Tony has played music since being a student at the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (FHUI). He was a student of the FHUI class of 1980. His passion for music brought him together with six colleagues, and they formed the band "Solidaritas 80 FHUI," well known as the Solid 80. Unexpectedly, his musical solidity with his classmates continued until 41 years later. Although the group initially formed to participate in campus festivals, they often performed hit songs by the rock music group Queen until today. "In the past, about 30 percent of the songs Solid 80 played were Queen songs. The rest were other songs and our original songs. But over time, most of our audience asked us to perform Queen songs. My favorite song is Bohemian Rhapsody," said Tony.
Furthermore, Tony Wenas conveyed leading a company is all about organizing employees to carry out their duties. Apart from monitoring employee performance, he prioritizes a family culture at PTFI. This internal harmony is observable when the entire PTFI family eats together in one room, enjoying the same variety of dishes. "We accept all employees as part of the family at PTFI. There is no difference. The same goes for our relationship with the union," said Tony.
He associates his role in the company as the parent of the labor union and management team. As a wise parent, Tony does not pick any side. "I invite them to negotiate with each other in a cooperation agreement, and as their parents, I will assess wisely," he added.
Tony said that he never discriminates against employees while maintaining ethical boundaries. It is observable that a large number of PTFI mine operators are women. "We chose female workers at Minegem with remote controls because they are more thorough," said Tony. For example, he said, the operation of a 300-ton truck for open-pit mining activities is handled by 30 to 50 female operators.
For PTFI's sustainability, Tony said PTFI has implemented safety, integrity, commitment, respect, and excellence (Sincere) to its employees. "We instill these Sincere values for all employees and not just become a slogan or only applicable at work. But they are also applied in everyday life," he added.
As a big family, said Tony, PTFI is obliged to increase and maintain concern for each other. Tony admitted that he also implemented the motto of Ki Hajar Dewantara, namely Ing Ngarsa Sung Tuladha, Ing Madya Mangun Karsa, Tut Wuri Handayani. It means that, as a leader, he must be able to set an example for his employees and accompany and encourage them.
On this occasion, Tony explained that his party is focusing on copper concentrate production, which creates copper cathode. Therefore, PTFI is fasten the completion of its newest copper processing and refining (smelter) facility project in the JIIPE Gresik Special Economic Zone (KEK), East Java.
Tony targets the smelter to start operating in May 2024. He hopes that the smelter in the JIIPE Gresik KEK can increase the added value of mining in the country, especially encouraging the development of other downstream industries.
As is known, the smelter project is PTFI's contribution to downstream mining. It follows the Indonesian Government's focus on encouraging economic transformation through downstream industry. "The hope is that it could improve the ease of investing in Indonesia. As a doing business, we need to increase it again to compete with other countries," said Tony.
He stated that Indonesia's investment ranking is quite good, as it is 73rd in the world. Even so, he hopes it can be higher to outperform neighboring countries, such as Vietnam and Thailand. Moreover, the President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Joko Widodo (Jokowi), has raised the investment realization target to IDR 1,400 trillion in 2023. "I happen to be the General Chair of Investment at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), so I can promote Indonesia abroad with the Ministry of Investment/Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM)," said Tony. He believes foreign direct investment (FDI) is crucial to boost economic growth. However, said Tony, domestic investment is also necessary, although FDI remains the main focus of additional income.
For information, PTFI has made agreements with the local communities since 1974 to grow together. "This concern for society has existed since the founding of Freeport Indonesia. I firmly believe I should contribute to society wherever I am," added Tony.
Therefore, he continued, he is obliged to increase the value of caring for society even though this value is already high as a PTFI leader. Because according to Tony, no company can succeed in a failed environment. For this reason, he seeks to improve various community programs so that they are beneficial to the surroundings. "Likewise, business planning must include social factors. For example, if you want to build a factory, it must first be clear whether the community will benefit. We cannot build a factory that only benefits the company itself," he explained.
Tony gave the example of Kuala Kencana City as the first modern city with an environmentally friendly concept. "Kuala Kencana City was designed with the cutting down trees only for buildings to be built concept. We are building this city as one of the best environmental insight cities," he added.
Apart from Kuala Kencana City, PTFI has also empowered local Papuan communities as part of the company. Tony explained 41 percent of PTFI employees are native Papuans, and one serves on the board of directors. "Nine of our Vice Presidents are Papuans, and there are more than 150 Papuans at managerial level. This condition is the result of our hard work for decades to increase the Papuan workforce, and we will improve it in the future," said Tony.
Moreover, he continued, PTFI also provided scholarships to 12,000 recipients, from elementary school level (SD) to colleges. More than 90 percent of the scholarship recipients are Papuans. Furthermore, PTFI has provided access to education for the Papuan people through the Nemangkawi Mining Institute (IPN), which has trained around 4,000 indigenous Papuans and through scholarship programs and educational assistance to more than 12,000 people. "Around 3,000 people already work at Freeport, and the rest work at other companies, so we apply and prioritize employing Papuans," said Tony.
He revealed that PTFI's strength is diversity to make all parties aware that they must be able to collaborate and become one team under one company leadership.
As the largest underground mining company in the world, PTFI has contributed to the government's plan to realize Net Zero Emissions (NZE) in 2030. Tony explained that PTFI made it by applying remote mining operations to operate heavy equipment in underground mines. Apart from that, he added, transporting ore underground also uses electric trains with zero emissions. Tony compared trucks that produce a lot of carbon and pollute the air. "We have reduced carbon emissions by 22 percent. We are committed to reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030. We plan to replace coal-fired power plants (PLTU) with liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reduce carbon emissions further," he said.
Regarding mining potential, Tony claims that PTFI's mine still holds a lot of mineral reserves and can still be extracted beyond 2041. "Mining that does not utilize all available natural resources is not conservation mining," said Tony.
He believes conservation mining is a landscape change optimization whose benefits can positively impact all stakeholders. The stakeholders include the people around Mimika, Papua, Indonesia, and shareholders. "The state can get IDR 4 billion in United States Dollars (USD) per year. The public will also be able to enjoy our program. And maintain the welfare of the workforce of 30,000 people at PTFI," added Tony.
Kami menghimbau para pencari kerja untuk berhati-hati dan mewaspadai beragam modus penipuan perekrutan yang mengatasnamakan PT Freeport Indonesia. Dalam setiap proses rekrutmen dan penerimaan karyawan, PT Freeport Indonesia maupun konsultan rekruitmennya tidak memungut biaya apapun.
Untuk melihat lowongan, silakan akses melalui link berikut: ptfi e-recruitment
Untuk melihat informasi magang, silakan akses melalui link berikut: Internship Program
