Make Your Dream Home Come True Through HOPE

If you have been working with PT Freeport Indonesia for at least five years, have no active warnings in your employment record and want to own a house, the company’s new HOPE program may make your dream come true!

Since March 2020, about 110 employees, including Nehemia Bairam, UG Miner, North Extraction C#3A, have bought and moved into new homes through the HOPE program, which stands for Home Ownership Program for Employees and offers favorable subsidies and interest rates for new homeowners.

“The company is so generous to help us become homeowners,” said Bairam, who was one of the first homeowners. “The house is well-built, and it’s nice and homey. The location is great and easy to reach from downtown Timika.”

Embarking from the agreement reached between the Management and the Trade Union/Labor Union from the 2017-2019 Collective Labor Agreement, the HOPE program was initiated to assist employees in owning their houses.

Wiliam Yochu, Chief Engineer-Environmental Concentrating, recently took ownership of his home and is excited to decorate it.

“It is an incredible opportunity to own a house. I also am happy with my investment because it is a company-initiated program, and I know I can trust it. All in all, it is indeed a great deal!” he said.

Over the past decade, Timika has grown to be a major city in Papua, and a number of employees live there.

That’s why the HOPE team – made up of representatives from the management and the unions – selected the SP 2 area as the site and picked a well-known developer with a proven track record, PT Bintang Timur Sejati. In 2020 through 2023, a total of 1,200 houses will be built available in 45, 54, 60 and 72 types, each on 150 square meters of land and all inside a gated community.

Plans are in the works to develop the neighborhood and build a community center with shopping and restaurants. It is going to be another vibrant neighborhood in Timika, which makes this an appealing place to live, too.

Qualified participants in the program receive two subsidies from the company:

An IDR179,000,000 (US$12,000) grant for the down payment. Employees will not need to repay the down payment subsidy but will be required to stay with the company for 10 years or until reaching the pension age limit.
A 5 percent subsidy of the total home loan interest from the bank. For example, if the bank’s loan interest is 10.25 percent, the employee will pay 5.25 percent annually.

In addition, the loan term is at least 10 years with a flat interest rate, meaning the payment will stay the same over the term of the loan.

Houses already are available for immediate move in.

“HOPE is another commitment from the management to help employees with what is the biggest purchase most will ever make. With the assistance, employees will be able to invest in a quality house in a great neighborhood,” said Demi Magai, Vice President-Industrial Relations.

Employees who are nearing retirement age and those who have worked more than five years with the company will be given priority during the application process.