The Jakarta Post, December 24, 2003
NGOs urge Australian firm to stop mining in Halmahera
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Coalition Against Forests for Mining and representatives of about 5,000 Kao and
Malifut tribespeople of Halmahera island in North Maluku are demanding Australian
company PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals (NHM) to immediately stop its open-pit mining
in the protected forest of Toguraci.
The coalition, which includes environmental NGOs such as the Mining Advocacy
Network (Jatam), the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) and the Indonesian
Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), also demanded that PT NHM restore the 52
hectares of already destroyed forest area in Toguraci, and its now-depleted 32-hectare
Gosowong site.
"The company's mining operations violates not only Law No. 41/2003 on forestry
which bans mining in protected forest areas, but also the ancestral rights of local
tribespeople," Jatam's national coordinator Siti Maimunah said on Tuesday.
As revealed by Jhon Djinimangele, a representative of the tribespeople, many locals
have been intimidated and denied access to forest areas located near PT NHM's
self-claimed site by soldiers and policemen hired by the company.
"We can no longer make a living by collecting fish and shrimp from the forest's rivers,
as we now fear that they have been polluted by the company's waste," Jhon said,
adding that he knew of one local who was still suffering from burns after bathing in one
of the rivers, that they suspect has been polluted.
The lack of benefits of the company's presence for local community development was
also denounced by Ikono Djambak, another representative who once worked for PT
NHM. Ikono complained that the company had done virtually nothing in the way of
providing facilities such as schools or health clinics.
Surprisingly, the reasoning used to get a special operating permit on May 9 from the
Ministry of Forestry was to prevent lay-offs, so they could continue and even expand
mining operations in the protected forest of Toguraci, as its Gosowong site which was
opened in 1992 has been depleted.
The Toguraci site is estimated to contain 360,000 ounces of gold reserves.
The permit, signed by Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa, was even augmented by a
similar permit issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, dated May 22
and signed by the ministry's secretary general Djoko Darmono.
PT NHM, however, has continued its mining operations even to this day.
State-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang owns 17.5 percent of the PT
NHM's shares.
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