Disposing of toxic waste

As a regular reader of The Jakarta Post I value the contribution of your paper to the Indonesian news coverage. Unfortunately, some articles, such as the one entitled Govt slammed for not halting MSM mining operation date Dec. 24 seem to lack responsible editorial review. The article consists of misleading and damaging statements.

The Executive Director of the Indonesian Center of Environmental Law (ICEL) suggests that MSM is polluting (or is intending to pollute) the environment, thus violating Environmental Law No. 23/1997. This is incorrect, a balanced comment would have been more appropriate.

A convenient but misleading reference is made to the Buyat case leaving the reader with the impression that Newmont has in fact polluted Buyat Bay by using submarine tailing placement (STP). This is also wrong. Legal proceedings are still under way, and a final verdict in the Buyat case is still outstanding. The Center of Environmental "Law" is well advised to await the outcome of proper legal proceedings before jumping publicly to any biased conclusions.

ICEL also urges the government "to issue a permanent ban on the disposal of toxic waste into the sea, such as STP", a suggestion fully supported by the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM). I certainly concur that toxic waste needs to be disposed off in an appropriate manner. However, ICEL and JATAM are both aware that while some tailings are toxic, many tailings are not. Generalization does not help the sensitive discussions of tailings disposal.

An argument often brought forward by both organizations is that Indonesia should ban STP because STP is not applied in most other countries. However, a general ban of deep-sea tailings disposal scheme would negate the fundamental principle that environmental assessment is conducted on a site-specific basis.

Everybody, maybe with the notable exception of JATAM and ICEL, acknowledges that Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, a region with high seismicity and high rainfall. Land mass is scarce, and high rainfall together with high seismicity often impose considerable challenges for safe land-based tailings storage.

I believe a public apology from both organizations to MSM and to the local people in North Sulawesi is in order. JATAM and ICEL continue to mislead the public, preventing Indonesian citizens to benefit from developing natural resources in an environmentally friendly and safe manner. I am sure a public apology will reflect the proper image of social responsibility that both organizations wish to portray.

KARLHEINZ SPITZ, Jakarta

Note: Thank you for your information.

--Editor