Govt slammed for not halting MSM mining operation<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Environmental activists have lambasted the government for its
\nlack of commitment in protecting the environment as it did not
\nimmediately halt the operation of mining firm PT Meares Soputan
\nMining (MSM), which plans to dump its tailings in the sea off
\nNorth Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Executive director of Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM) Siti
\nMaimunah said the operation of MSM should be halted as the Office
\nof the State Minister of the Environment had stated that the
\nnecessary environmental impact assessment (AMDAL) approval had
\nalready expired.<\/p>\n
\"Without the AMDAL, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
\nResources should stop their operations,\" she said at her office
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
MSM, which plans to extract gold at a 741,000-hectare mining
\nsite in North Minahasa and Bitung municipalities starting next
\nyear, faces complaints from environmental groups and North
\nSulawesi residents over its plan to dispose of its tailings in
\nthe sea via a mechanism called submarine tailings disposal (STD).<\/p>\n
NGO activists and residents say toxic wastes from the firm's
\ntailings may pollute the waters of Lembeh Strait, thereby
\nendangering people's livelihood there.<\/p>\n
The company responded earlier by saying that STD was the best
\nmechanism to dispose of tailings, guaranteeing that it would not
\nharm the biodiversity of the strait as the tailings would be
\ndeposited on the ocean bed 800 meters to 1,200 meters below the
\nsurface of the ocean and would be similar in character to the
\nsediments on the ocean floor.<\/p>\n
Maimunah regretted that no measures had been taken by the
\ngovernment to make sure that MSM would not carry out any work
\nbefore it was granted a new AMDAL.<\/p>\n
\"The fact that the company's operation is not being halted,
\nshows that government institutions don't speak the same
\nlanguage,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Director General of Geology and Mineral Resources Simon
\nSembiring, whose office is in charge of monitoring mining
\noperations across the archipelago, refused to comment further,
\nsaying that he had not received any letter from the Office of the
\nState Minister of the Environment regarding the MSM case.<\/p>\n
He said his office would comply with any regulation issued by
\nthe ministry in protecting the country's natural resources, but
\nwould not halt the company's work in constructing the sites
\nbecause it did not mean that MSM would start dumping its
\ntailings.<\/p>\n
Executive director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental
\nLaw (ICEL) suggested that the general public and NGOs push the
\ngovernment to suspend MSM's operations by invoking Environmental
\nLaw No. 23\/1997.<\/p>\n
\"There are articles in the law that allow a third party, the
\ncitizens, to demand that the government halt the operation of
\ncompanies that will and are damaging the environment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that people should also urge the government to issue
\na permanent ban on the disposal of toxic waste into the sea, such
\nas STD.<\/p>\n
\"After what happened in Buyat, there should be no more STD in
\nthe country. The government should declare that tailings cannot
\nbe disposed of in that way here,\" he said.<\/p>\n
JATAM data shows that currently, only PT MSM, PT Newmont Nusa
\nTenggara and PT Newmont Minahasa Raya have obtained licenses to
\ncarry out STD. The latter is facing a criminal lawsuit at a North
\nSulawesi court for polluting Buyat Bay.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-slammed-for-not-halting-msm-mining-operation-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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