NGOs urge Australian firm to stop mining in Halmahera<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Coalition Against Forests for Mining and representatives of
\nabout 5,000 Kao and Malifut tribespeople of Halmahera island in
\nNorth Maluku are demanding Australian company PT Nusa Halmahera
\nMinerals (NHM) to immediately stop its open-pit mining in the
\nprotected forest of Toguraci.<\/p>\n
The coalition, which includes environmental NGOs such as the
\nMining Advocacy Network (Jatam), the Indonesian Environmental
\nForum (Walhi) and the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law
\n(ICEL), also demanded that PT NHM restore the 52 hectares of
\nalready destroyed forest area in Toguraci, and its now-depleted
\n32-hectare Gosowong site.<\/p>\n
"The company's mining operations violates not only Law No.
\n41\/2003 on forestry which bans mining in protected forest areas,
\nbut also the ancestral rights of local tribespeople," Jatam's
\nnational coordinator Siti Maimunah said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
As revealed by Jhon Djinimangele, a representative of the
\ntribespeople, many locals have been intimidated and denied access
\nto forest areas located near PT NHM's self-claimed site by
\nsoldiers and policemen hired by the company.<\/p>\n
"We can no longer make a living by collecting fish and shrimp
\nfrom the forest's rivers, as we now fear that they have been
\npolluted by the company's waste," Jhon said, adding that he knew
\nof one local who was still suffering from burns after bathing in
\none of the rivers, that they suspect has been polluted.<\/p>\n
The lack of benefits of the company's presence for local
\ncommunity development was also denounced by Ikono Djambak,
\nanother representative who once worked for PT NHM. Ikono
\ncomplained that the company had done virtually nothing in the way
\nof providing facilities such as schools or health clinics.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, the reasoning used to get a special operating
\npermit on May 9 from the Ministry of Forestry was to prevent lay-
\noffs, so they could continue and even expand mining operations in
\nthe protected forest of Toguraci, as its Gosowong site which was
\nopened in 1992 has been depleted.<\/p>\n
The Toguraci site is estimated to contain 360,000 ounces of
\ngold reserves.<\/p>\n
The permit, signed by Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa, was
\neven augmented by a similar permit issued by the Ministry of
\nEnergy and Mineral Resources, dated May 22 and signed by the
\nministry's secretary general Djoko Darmono.<\/p>\n
PT NHM, however, has continued its mining operations even to
\nthis day.<\/p>\n
State-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang owns 17.5 percent
\nof the PT NHM's shares.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ngos-urge-australian-firm-to-stop-mining-in-halmahera-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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