Illegal mining hurts environment

Illegal mining hurts environment

JAKARTA (JP): A Non-Government Organization wants a private
company prosecuted for illegally operating an open pit mine that
has destroyed the environment near Bogor.

Director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL)
Mas Achmad Santosa said that the company, PT Gamidhana Putera
Sela Adhi, should compensate the locals for destroying their
environment with dynamite.

Santosa stated in his letter to Bogor Mayor Eddy Yoso
Martadipura that the operation had rendered the villagers' land
infertile and cracked the foundations of their houses. The
illegal mining activities also caused landslides and damaged
roads and a nearby dam. The villagers suffered from the continual
loud explosions as well.

The local government banned the company on Monday because its
operation license had expired on Jan. 13, 1993. This is not
enough, Santosa stressed. He said that the government must
consistently enforce environmental laws and bring the delinquent
company to court.

Last April, the Bogor District Court sentenced the director of
two sand excavation companies to six months in jail and fined him
Rp 750,000 (US$360) for failing to mend the environmental damage
his company had caused.

ICEL learned about the unlawful open pit mine from 12
residents from the Cikuda village in the Parung Panjang district
and from Kertajaya village in the Rumpin district. They lodged
their complaint with the organization and the National Human
Rights Commission as well.

Santosa said that the Home Affairs Ministry and the Ministry
of Mining and Energy had issued regulations to prevent pit mining
which jeopardized the environment. The mining continued because
of the local mining authority was unwilling to shut them down.
The local government's policies emphasize revenue more than the
environment.

Regulations

"If the existing regulations are fully implemented, illegal
mining and indiscriminate exploitation of the environment can be
minimized," Santosa said.

He said that the local monitoring agency does not work, and
that pit mining licenses are issued without considering the
impact on the environment.(sim)