Legal battle against PT Freeport reopens

Legal battle against PT Freeport reopens

JAKARTA (JP): The legal battle between the Indonesian Forum
for the Environment (Walhi) and the mining giant PT Freeport
Indonesia opened on Wednesday at the South Jakarta District
Court.

Walhi told the hearing that Freeport has been responsible for
environmental damage caused by its mining activity in Irian Jaya
and that the company should be held responsible for spreading
misleading information about a recent accident at its dump site.

The suit was filed following the collapse of a large pile of
waste belonging to Freeport at Wanagon Lake near its copper and
gold mine in Grasberg, Irian Jaya on May 4, 2000, which led to
the death or disappearance of four workers. Freeport had said
that the incident was caused by the slippage of overburden waste,
which caused a wave of water and material to spill over the
Wanagon basin spillway and enter Wanagon valley.

Walhi lawyers Abdul Haris Semendawai, Lukmanul Hakim, and
Ersan Budiman stated in the suit that Freeport had violated Law
No.23/1997 on environmental management, which obliges every
company to provide accurate and correct information about its
environmental management activities.

They said that Freeport had provided incorrect information in
its press releases dated May 5 and May 24, 2000; during the
hearing held by House of Representatives Commission VIII on the
Environment, Science, and Technology on June 28, 2000; and in the
company's 1998 annual report.

In the press release dated May 5 and during the House hearing,
Freeport stated that an early warning system had been set up at
Banti, a village 16 kilometers from the Wanagon basin, to warn
the villagers of floods. Freeport also stated that the system had
worked perfectly.

Walhi's lawyers, however, said the early warning system had
not worked properly. They blamed the disappearance and death of
the workers at Wanagon Lake on the malfunctioning of the early
warning system.

According to Walhi, Freeport had deliberately implied that the
Wanagon accident had been the result of natural causes.

Walhi pointed out that even though Freeport knew that the lake
was prone to accident, the company did not stop dumping huge
amounts of the waste in it. Therefore, according to Walhi, the
defendants deliberately increased the risk of accidents.

Walhi demanded that Freeport make a public apology through
national and international media. The company was also asked to
publish a full-page advertisement for one week in at least 10
national daily newspapers and two local daily newspapers in Irian
Jaya; and a one-page advertisement for one month in at least 10
national magazines, five international magazines and three
international daily newspapers.

In addition, the company must also air prime time
advertisements on national and international television stations;
and on 10 national radio stations at least five times a day for
10 days, the lawyers added.

The hearing was adjourned until March 21, when Freeport's
lawyers, from Minang Warman & Associates, will submit their
responses.

Meanwhile, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Tuesday
in Irian Jaya by the head of the Irian Jaya Environmental Impact
Management Agency and representatives from PT Freeport Indonesia,
The Indonesian Forest Entrepreneurs Association, the Jayapura
Science and Technology Institute, the Worldwide Fund for Nature,
and the United States Agency for International Development.

The agreement was aimed at implementing many programs on
environmental management activities in Irian Jaya, including
human resources development and improvements to the information
system.

The event was witnessed by Irian Jaya Governor J.P. Salossa.
(04)