Kalimantan group complains over Australian-RI mining

JAKARTA (JP): Kalimantan natives have urged the National Commission on Human Rights to help them get compensation for property taken from them for mining projects.

A delegation of the indigenous Kalimantan people also told commission members here Tuesday the activities of four large- scale mining companies were degrading the environment.

Accompanied by Jakarta-based environmental activists, the delegation from East, Central and South Kalimantan was met by commission members Koesparmono Irsan and Mohamad Salim.

The natives listed numerous rights allegedly violated by the companies, the Indonesia-Australia joint ventures PT Indo Muro Kencana in Central Kalimantan, PT Kelian Equatorial Mining and PT Kaltim Prima Coal in East Kalimantan, and PT Adaro Indonesia in South Kalimantan.

"Those four big mining companies have denied us our basic rights by acquiring our property without giving proper compensation and taking away our sources of livelihood," they said in a joint-statement.

"They change our culture and intimidate people who stand firm to fight for their rights," they said.

Amsyah, representing people of Sanggata village in East Kalimantan, claimed that PT Kaltim Prima Coal, which controls 790,000 hectares of land, had appropriated the land without paying any compensation in 1989.

In 1990, the company claimed another 32,35 hectares of shrimp ponds for storing coal, also without compensation, Amsyah told the commission.

The same company grabbed 247 hectares of people's plantations worth about Rp 900 million (US$395,000) in 1993, again without offering any compensation.

Meanwhile, another member of the delegation, Syamsuri from Hulu Sungai Utara, South Kalimantan, said that besides "relocating people without adequate compensation," coal mining company PT Adaro Indonesia had polluted a number of rivers used by locals.

Syamsuri also claimed the mud resulting from mining activities ruined the villagers' paddy fields.

"The company continues evicting villagers although the dispute over compensation is still far from over," he said. People refused the offered compensation because they considered it too small, he added.

He claimed he was jabbed in the eye by a village chief for questioning the government policy on the project. His eye is permanently disabled, he added.

The delegation demanded the commission help supervise mining activities in the province and pressure the companies to pay attention to the environment in their operations.

They also called on the commission to urge the companies to settle the disputes with local people without involving security forces.

Koesparmono and Salim promised the delegation they would look into their complaints. (08)