Environmentalists demand Freeport's temporary closure<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An environmental group demanded a temporary halt
\nto operations of mining company PT Freeport Indonesia following a
\nMay 4 accident which resulted in four missing workers.<\/p>\n
The chairwoman of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment
\n(Walhi) Emmy Hafild also announced on Monday the organization's
\nplans to sue Freeport on charges of environmental damage.<\/p>\n
Walhi said Freeport had violated the 1997 environment law, and
\ngovernment regulations on water pollution, rivers and management
\nof toxic materials and other harmful waste.<\/p>\n
"We (Walhi) will be filing a lawsuit against the company this
\nweek and demand a temporary closure of Freeport until the company
\nmeets requirements for safe operation of its facility," Emmy
\nsaid, adding that Walhi also wants a review of Freeport's
\ncontract.<\/p>\n
Walhi is not recommending the permanent closure of the company
\nin Irian Jaya, she said. "For who would take care of the
\nenvironment rehabilitation then?"<\/p>\n
Walhi also demanded that Freeport reduce its production scale
\nto a safe level.<\/p>\n
Emmy said the Wanagon basin accident was caused because it
\ncould not accommodate the waste from Freeport -- some 260,000
\ntons every day.<\/p>\n
"Even at 33,000 tons during 1973 to 1990, the company's
\nactivities had a devastating impact on the environment," Emmy
\ntold a press conference.<\/p>\n
Emmy also said that an independent analysis was needed in
\norder to determine an acceptable production scale for the
\ncompany.<\/p>\n
The accident at the Grasberg mine in Tembagapura, Mimika
\nregency was caused by the slippage of overburden, which caused a
\nwave of water and material to overflow the Wanagon basin spillway
\nand enter Wanagon Valley.<\/p>\n
Company officials blamed four days of rainfall -- which
\nreached an average of 40 millimeters a day -- as the cause of the
\naccident.<\/p>\n
Antara on Monday quoted Mimika regent T.O. Potereyauw as
\nsaying that the search had continued for the four missing
\nvictims, but so far with no results.<\/p>\n
Walhi's report said 420 million tons of solid waste had been
\nproduced by Freeport's mining operation since 1995, about 95
\npercent of which was dumped in the Wanagon Valley.<\/p>\n
Walhi activist Joko Waluyo, who observed the site after the
\nincident, said that the 50-meter high wave had also destroyed pig
\nstys, vegetable gardens and a burial ground of the Amungme tribe
\nin Banti village, some 12 kilometers downstream of the basin.<\/p>\n
Emmy said that the earlier statement of Freeport's president
\ndirector Adrie Machribie's, which blamed heavy rain for the
\nincident, was "unacceptable."<\/p>\n
She said that Walhi had warned Freeport "years ago" about the
\npossibility of heavy rain damaging the dumping system but
\n"Freeport said that they had already calculated (the rain
\nfactor)."<\/p>\n
Protest<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Jayapura, hundreds of Irianese students held a
\npeaceful demonstration at the local legislature demanding that
\nthe government re-evaluate the company's Environmental Impact
\nAssessment (AMDAL).<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the demonstrators, Diaz Gwijangge, said "Wanagon
\nLake is a sacred place for the Amungme tribe ... Freeport has
\nbeen deliberately destroying the tribe's spiritual lands and
\nculture."<\/p>\n
The protesters also demanded that Freeport stop dumping waste
\nin Mimika's Ajkwa River, saying that the practice has destroyed
\nthousands of hectares of mangrove and sago palm trees.<\/p>\n
Yance Kayame, a member of the provincial council who met the
\nstudents, said that they were collecting data -- to be eventually
\nsubmitted to non-government organizations working on the
\nenvironment -- to decide the company's fate.<\/p>\n
Legislators in Jakarta announced that Freeport's contract
\ncould be revised if the company was found guilty of its
\ninvolvement in the incident.<\/p>\n
Calls for a temporary halt to production operations, such as
\nthose raised by Walhi, evoke the controversy surrounding rayon
\nand pulp producer PT Inti Indorayon Utama in North Sumatra and
\ngold mining firm PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in North Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
In both cases the government issued conflicting decisions,
\nraising feelings of insecurity among business operators. (08\/eba)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/environmentalists-demand-freeports-temporary-closure-1447893297",
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