Kalimantan wants to cash in on gems<\/p>\n
By Mick Elmore<\/p>\n
MARTAPURA, East Kalimantan (DPA): Diamond miners in South
\nKalimantan say their stones have magical powers -- a trait the
\nlocal government is banking on to boost the economy of the remote
\nand under-developed Indonesian province.<\/p>\n
Mines around Martapura, which means \"Gate of the Jewels\", have
\nproduced diamonds for more than 150 years, but few people know
\nabout them outside Kalimantan, the southern portion of Borneo
\nIsland, which Indonesia shares with Malaysia and Brunei.<\/p>\n
Indonesia now wants to market its diamonds by attracting
\ntourists to the mines themselves and informing the world about
\nthe them. The region's diamonds are known in the industry for
\ntheir slight rust color and hardness, said H. Abdul Madjid, the
\nregent of Banjar Regency, where the mines are located.<\/p>\n
The industry will be able to expand and employ more people in
\ngem-related businesses, added Wiendu Nuryanti, who works for
\nStuppa Indonesia, a company that helped organize a gems and
\ntourism conference in Kalimantan last month.<\/p>\n
\"The conference was a way to look at what potential we have
\nand to educate ourselves. We also looked at ways to develop
\ntourism and trade so the local people can have some benefit. Now
\nthey work very hard but get little,\" Wiendu said.<\/p>\n
The locals have worked in the industry for more than 150
\nyears, with families passing their skills - along with many
\nsuperstitions - from generation to generation.<\/p>\n
\"In Kalimantan gems are believed to have supernatural powers
\nand are used to cast magical spells. They are not only valued for
\ntheir material level but also for their metaphysical powers,\"
\nsaid Eka Triyatna Shanty, a radio show producer in Banjarmasin,
\nthe capital of South Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
She added: \"In the diamond mines it is taboo to refer to the
\ndiamond by its name. Instead it is called Galuh, which means
\nGoddess. And when searching for the Goddess miners do not curse
\nor speak roughly so they won't upset the Goddess.\"<\/p>\n
Maintaining one's cool takes some doing in the cramped, hot
\nconfines of the mines, which are the last place one would expect
\nto find a Galuh. Yet enough sparklers are found to keep miners
\ndigging and investors financing them.<\/p>\n
Local mining technology has changed little since the first
\ndiamonds were found here in the mid-1800s. The miners dig one-
\nmetre by one-metre square holes down 10 metres or more until they
\nreach a layer of gravel where the Goddess hopefully is waiting.<\/p>\n
Once dug, the family works like a bucket brigade, each on a
\nbamboo platform passing baskets full of gravel to the person
\nabove them. The one on top piles the gravel near the mine and
\nlater they sift through it looking for diamonds.<\/p>\n
Miners periodically seek relief from Borneo's hot, humid
\nweather by cooling themselves in the muddy pools of water pumped
\nfrom their mine.<\/p>\n
The miners find enough diamonds to keep them going or they
\nrely on the support of investors. Under most agreements they get
\n30 percent the value of the diamonds they find with 10 percent
\ngiven to the land-owner and 60 percent to the investor who
\nsupplies the digging equipment, food and shelter for the
\nfamilies.<\/p>\n
The government lacks records but estimates there are several
\nhundred miners who find enough diamonds to keep at least a couple
\nsmall polishing factories busy. But they estimate fewer than
\n1,000 people work in gems-related businesses.<\/p>\n
Some big diamonds have been found in Kalimantan since 1846,
\nincluding several of 10 carats or bigger. But the Tri Satti
\ndiamond tops them all. The 166-carat monster was found in 1965
\nand the government paid the Moslem miner who found it by
\nfinancing his Haj to Mecca. Some say he had no choice in the
\nmatter when the government of former president Sukarno found out
\nabout it.<\/p>\n
Soon after the seizure of the diamond, one of the biggest in
\nthe world, Sukarno's government fell. Residents of Kalimantan
\nwonder what happened to the giant stone.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of rumors, including one that says proceeds
\nfrom the diamond's sale helped fund Sukarno's downfall. Another
\ntale holds that someone in the current government still has the
\ndiamond. Yet another contends that Elizabeth Taylor bought it.<\/p>\n
One thing is known: the miner who found it and his family
\nstill live in poverty.<\/p>\n
Now the government is looking for ways to increase the income
\ngenerated from the mines, both for the miners and others. One
\nidea is to attract tourists to the mines, but the problem is few
\ntravelers venture to remote Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The miners themselves are happy to see visitors, and they are
\neven happier for the chance to earn some extra cash by selling
\npolished diamonds or the other locally mined gems like amethysts
\nand agates.<\/p>",
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