PT Newmont responds

PT Newmont responds

We refer to the letter to the editor in The Jakarta Post on
Oct. 21 entitled: Newmont ad misleading which was written by P.
Raja Siregar on behalf of Indonesian Environmental Forum (WALHI).

Siregar accuses PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (PTNMR) of having
misled the public in regard to the conclusions of the World
Health Organization (WHO) Final Report, dated Sept. 8, 2004, and
entitled Mercury pollution. PTNMR has in no way misled the
public.

First, it is easy enough for the public to read the WHO Final
Report for themselves. It is available on our website
www.newmont.co.id. We encourage everyone to read it.

Second, we do not understand why Siregar is comparing our
advertorial to a press release by the Ministry of Health relating
to the WHO Final Report. Why doesn't he compare our advertorial
to the WHO Final Report itself? Common sense would dictate doing
so, since we based the advertorial on the WHO Final Report, not
some other document that describes the WHO Final Report.

And let's look at just one of Siregar's statements in his
letter to the editor (keep asking yourself this question: Who is
attempting to mislead?). Siregar's statement: "The WHO study,
meanwhile, confines its conclusion only to the presence or
absence of Minamata disease."

Compare this statement to the following quote from the WHO
Final Report: "However, the environment has not become highly
contaminated with methylmercury at present as indicated by the
low mercury level in fish." Clearly, the WHO Final Report makes a
conclusion in regard to contamination of the environment.

Siregar also states: "Therefore the conclusion made in the
Newmont advertorial published in a number of mass media
publications to the effect that there is no contamination is both
erroneous and unfounded".

Let us be absolutely clear to ensure that no one misses our
position: PT Newmont Minahasa Raya has not polluted Buyat Bay.
This is confirmed by years of our own monitoring data, by WHO, by
the Ministry of the Environment's Integrated Team, and by the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization
(CSIRO).

WALHI and other NGOs have also created panic among the public
by raising a scary issue about "Minamata disease." WALHI also
published a report called "Minamata from Minahasa."

Both Minamata Institute and Health Ministry have concluded
that there are no symptoms of Minamata disease in Buyat. In a
statement, Siregar admitted that there is no Minamata. We should
ask the question again: Who is attempting to mislead who?

We find Siregar's accusation against us more than a little
ironic. Who has misled the public?

KASAN MULYONO
Public Relations Manager
PT Newmont Minahasa Raya
Jakarta