Walhi sues government over mining project<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi)
\nfiled a lawsuit yesterday against the Secretary-General of the
\nMinistry of Mines for approving a PT Freeport environmental
\nmanagement plan without consulting it as a partner.<\/p>\n
Various governmental organizations and Walhi, a non-permanent
\nmember of the ministry's commission that carries out
\nenvironmental impact analyses (Amdal), were all supposed to be in
\ncharge of the Jayapura-based mining company's projects.<\/p>\n
\"We want the Jakarta State Administrative Court to rule that
\nthe secretary-general's approval of Freeport's environmental
\nmanagement and monitoring plans are unlawful,\" Walhi's Chairman
\nM.S. Zulkarnain said in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\"We want the Court to order the secretary-general to revoke
\nhis approval of the environmental management and monitoring
\nplans,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Zulkarnain said the ministry of mines and energy issued the
\napproval without consulting with the ministry's Amdal commission.<\/p>\n
He argued that according to the law of 1993 on environmental
\nimpact management, a ministry cannot endorse any environmental
\nimpact management plan without the approval of all commission
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
The approval, signed by the ministry's secretary-general Umar
\nSaid, was issued on Feb. 17. It includes the ministry's approval
\nof Freeport's environmental management and monitoring plans for
\ncopper mining in the Fak Fak and Paniai regencies in Irian Jaya.<\/p>\n
PT Freeport agreed last year to re-evaluate its environmental
\nmanagement and monitoring plans before submitting them to the
\ncommission for approval, he said.<\/p>\n
He said that Walhi had provided input to the central Amdal
\ncommission on Freeport's environmental management and monitoring
\nplans regarding the danger of the company's industrial waste.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Freeport's environmental manager Bruce Marsh denied
\ncharges that the company had obtained the approval illegally.<\/p>\n
\"It is not true that the Ministry of Mines and Energy has
\nviolated the proper procedures in approving our environmental
\nmanagement and monitoring plans,\" he told The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Marsh dismissed Walhi's suing the secretary-general as
\n\"unprofessional\".<\/p>\n
\"Walhi is a member of the ministry's Amdal central commission,
\nwhich should have brought things in dispute into the commission's
\ninternal meeting before filing the lawsuit,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Head of the Environmental and Technology Bureau of the
\nMinistry of Mines and Energy Dibyo Kuntjoro also denied Walhi's
\nallegation that the ministry violated the procedures.<\/p>\n
\"A technical team evaluated Freeport's environmental
\nmanagement and monitoring plans three times before issuing the
\napproval,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
He said the technical team conducted an on-the-spot check on
\nthe environment in its mining area and field trips to the project
\nsites. In addition the team interviewed local villagers and
\nexamined its documents.<\/p>\n
He also said there are no articles in the government
\nregulation saying that a non-permanent member of the Amdal
\ncommission should also be included to approve a company's
\nenvironmental impact analysis.<\/p>\n
According to the government regulation, Walhi and other non-
\ngovernmental organizations are non-permanent members. The
\npermanent members include representatives from the Ministry of
\nMines and Energy, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Investment
\nCoordinating Board, the National Land Agency, and related
\nexperts. (imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/walhi-sues-government-over-mining-project-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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