Coal mining may sink island

Coal mining may sink island

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: Sebuku island may sink if coal
mining activities there are continued, a local activist of the
Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi), an environmental
watchdog, said here on Sunday.

Nurhalis Madjid said the findings of the Regional Development
Study Center of Kotabaru regency showed the 275-square-kilometer
island does not have the environmental capability to sustain
mining activities.

The island is inhabited by some 4,900 people, Antara said.

Nurhalis said the coal deposits in at least 25 areas on the
island were first discovered by the Dutch in 1925. Plans to
exploit the resources, however, were stopped after the Dutch
found out the island might not survive mining.

Instead, the colonial authorities turned the island into a
preserved park to serve as a buffer zone for Laut Islet, which is
located between Sebuku Island and the mainland of South
Kalimantan.

A private company, identified only as PT CBS, has been
operating on the island for one year. However, Suharna Rasyid, an
official in the province's energy and mining office, said it was
an exaggeration to say the island would sink due to coal mining
activities "because its reserves reach 11 million metric tons".

Last year, the company's production capacity reached a million
metric tons, he said.