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