Global moratorium sought on new mining explorations
Global moratorium sought on new mining explorations
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A group of international non-governmental organizations is
seeking a global moratorium on new mining exploration as mining
operations have damaged the environment, brought no significant
benefits for people around the sites and have even led to human
rights violations.
A local mining association, however, dismissed such charges on
Monday, saying that the mining industry had contributed
significantly to economic growth and that the operations did not
cause environmental damage.
Chalid Muhammad, national coordinator for the Indonesian-based
Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), said that the damage caused by
mining operations surpassed their benefits. We demand an
immediate moratorium on new mining operations," Chalid said on
Sunday, following a meeting of 74 NGO delegations from 15
countries at Palm Beach Hotel in Kuta, Bali.
The results of the meetings, participated in by, among others,
Oxfam Australia, Friends of the Earth International, and Jatam,
would be distributed to government delegations attending the
fourth preparatory committee meeting for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Nusa Dua, Bali.
According to Chalid, energy NGOs sought an immediate
moratorium on new mining exploration to contain the damage
already caused by mining.
In Indonesia alone, Chalid said, mining operations had
contributed 10 percent of the total damage of the country's
forests.
Mining operations in other parts of the world have also caused
environmental destruction. In South Dakota's Black Hills, the
United States, at least one thousand birds died between 1983 to
1992 after drinking from cyanide-laced water in ponds near gold
mining operations in the area.
The mining operations, Chalid went on, benefit only the
investors, as well as corrupt officials at the central government
and local administrations, but not the people in the surrounding
areas.
Mining operations have, on many occasions, even violated the
rights of local people, he said.
People in Kelian in Kalimantan and the Amungme tribe in Papua,
for instance, were evicted from their ancestral lands following
the discovery of minerals in their areas.
The moratorium demand from the NGOs was strongly rejected by
Indonesian Mining Association (IMA).
IMA executive director P.L. Coutrier contended that the mining
operations helped boost economic performance for local people in
terms of employment opportunities, the local administration, as
well as the host country.
"Mining operations could provide job opportunities for local
people, and this could also increase revenue for the host
country. This is especially important for countries like
Indonesia that are currently experiencing an economic crisis,"
Coutrier said.
Mining operations in Indonesia are expected to contribute
about 2.8 percent out of total GDP this year.
Currently, there are 38 mining companies operating in
Indonesia.
"We have also carried out community development projects to
share the benefits of mining operations with the local people,"
said Coutrier.
Coutrier said that mining companies were not responsible for
mismanagement of revenue by local administrations and the central
government.
"If the revenue does not go to the people, that is their
problem, not ours. The media should ask them about this, and not
us," he said.
Coutrier, however, acknowledged that mining operations had in
some ways damaged the environment. Mining companies are
developing environmental research to mitigate the damage to the
environment.