Poverty prevails despite gold deposits<\/p>\n
Jongker Rumteh and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Minahasa<\/p>\n
There is not much difference between Buyat Pantai village in
\nMinahasa, North Sulawesi and other poor villages in coastal areas
\nacross the country.<\/p>\n
People in this village live in wooden huts, most of which have
\nno bathrooms, clean water or electricity and most -- if not all
\n-- residents make a living from fishing, using traditional boats
\nand equipment. A fisherman earns between Rp 500,000 (US$55) and
\nRp 1 million per month, around the same as the minimum wage for
\nworkers in the province.<\/p>\n
One fisherman explained that his family had gotten used to
\neating just one meal a day, if he failed to catch enough fish.<\/p>\n
Skin diseases are common among the people, who have long lived
\nwithout adequate sanitation.<\/p>\n
Recently, some of the residents complained about swellings in
\ncertain parts of their bodies. They said they could not afford to
\nget medication until people from outside the area offered free
\nmedication.<\/p>\n
What makes this particularly unheralded village a bit
\ndifferent is its high-profile neighbor; PT Newmont Minahasa Raya
\n(NMR), a subsidiary of the giant Newmont Mining Corporation
\nheadquartered in Colorado, the United States.<\/p>\n
Occupying some 500,000 hectares of production forests, the
\nfirm has exploited some two million troy ounces, or 62.6 tons, of
\ngold since its operation began in 1996. Its operational license
\nexpires this year.<\/p>\n
Apart from the mines, there are offices and lodges on site
\nthat accommodate some 100 employees. The number of employees has
\ngradually declined from the initial 700 as its closure draws
\nnear.<\/p>\n
The offices and housing areas are of the same standard as most
\nwealthy developed countries, with an uninterrupted supply of
\nelectricity and clean water as well as a fully stocked medical
\ncenter. A well-equipped ambulance is on-call to take sick
\nemployees to hospitals in the provincial capital of Manado, which
\nis around 120 kilometers away.<\/p>\n
Handled by a well-known caterer, the canteen inside the mining
\nsite provides restaurant meals, with Western food like steak or
\npasta.<\/p>\n
Because it is a close neighbor to the impoverished village,
\nthe company spends some US$330,000 a year for community
\ndevelopment, PT NMR external relations manager David Sompie said.<\/p>\n
The company, he said, had built reservoirs and held training
\nseminars to introduce new skills to the local people. They have
\nalso offered small-scale loans for them either for fishing or
\nother purposes.<\/p>\n
The company has also constructed infrastructure like roads,
\npublic toilets and bathing areas as well as garbage disposal
\nsites. It still plans to help the village get electricity, David
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"But, improving the condition of the people is not as easy as
\nturning up your hand,\" he said.<\/p>\n
David added that the company has contributed direct and
\nindirect benefits to Indonesia to the tune of $561 million since
\n1994.<\/p>\n
Several residents living nearby Buyat Bay, however, told The
\nJakarta Post that the presence of the company brings little
\nbenefit to them.<\/p>\n
\"Indeed, the road is better now than before, but the fish are
\nvanishing. It's probably because they dispose of their waste in
\nthe bay,\" claimed Chris, a fisherman.<\/p>\n
North Sulawesi administration officials refused to reveal the
\nbudget allocations for development in the area around Buyat Bay.<\/p>\n
H.D. Waworuntu, the secretary of South Minahasa regency, where
\nthe bay is located, said his administration had developed the
\narea.<\/p>\n
\"I don't remember the budgeted amount but we have allocated
\nit. I think the area only has a transportation shortage,\" he told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Theoretically, 60 percent of the state revenue from companies
\nin the natural resource exploitation business must go to the
\nregency where the sites are situated, 20 percent to the
\nprovincial administration and another 20 to the central
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
Economist Drajad Wibowo suggested that the government adjust
\nits policies involving natural resource businesses like mining or
\nplantations.<\/p>\n
The country already had a heap of legislation related to
\nbusiness, many of which were overlapping or contradictory, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Drajad said the laws and regulations, however, did not
\nnecessarily address the issue of having environmentally friendly
\ncompanies as they had to invest a lot to start their business,
\nsuch as building infrastructure to get to the sites.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, no money is left to restore the environment or
\nhelp with development of poor villages,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He urged the government to be transparent in allocating the
\nrevenue that was pouring in from such companies.<\/p>\n
\"Otherwise, the classic story of poor villages next to rich
\nmining companies will continue,\" Drajad of the Institute for
\nDevelopment of Economics and Finance (Indef) said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poverty-prevails-despite-gold-deposits-1447893297",
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