Minamata victims report Newmont, minister to police

Minamata victims report Newmont, minister to police

Abdul Khalik and Jongker Rumteh, Jakarta/Manado

Villagers of Minahasa regency, North Sulawesi, reported U.S.-
based PT Newmont Minahasa Raya and the minister of health to the
National Police on Tuesday for the spread of suspected Minamata
disease, which has allegedly killed 30 people since 1996.

Ratatotok villagers, accompanied by local doctor Jane Pangemanan,
said Newmont had dumped industrial waste containing hazardous
chemicals, including arsenic and mercury, into Buyat Bay for the
last eight years.

"We have reported Newmont because they have dumped their waste
to the bay, which caused almost all local villagers to suffer a
strange disease with symptoms similar to Minamata disease," Jane
said.

At least 30 people, including an infant, died from the
disease, contracted from water and fish taken from the
contaminated bay, according to Indonesian Forum for the
Environment (Walhi) in North Sulawesi.

Jane confirmed the report, saying that out of the 74 families
in Ratatotok, 80 percent had been infected with Minamata disease,
and others had suffered migraines, muscular aches and cancer.

"Many of them have lost their infants, while others have had
babies affected in uterus," Jane told journalists after filing
the police report.

She said laboratory tests she had conducted showed most
villagers suffering the various ailments had high levels of heavy
metal in the bloodstream.

Four Minahasa villagers -- Masna Stirman, Rasid Rahmad, Jufria
Ratubane and Sintia Mandeon -- said they became ill after using
water from the contaminated bay, where they had swum and fished
for years.

They said each of them contracted different illnesses caused
by the pollution.

"My one-year-old baby, Kris, has a skin irritation on both
shoulders. It is getting worse every day. The disease has simply
destroyed his arms," said Jufria, showing Kris' red, blotchy
shoulders.

Rasid said he had developed a melanoma on his neck, while
Masna said she lost her daughter Andini at the age of five
months.

"Every day, I suffer unbearable migraines, while the melanoma
is getting bigger by the day," Rasid said.

Walhi North Sulawesi chairman Berti Pesik said the forum had
undertaken research from 2001 to 2003 around Buyat Bay, where
Newmont is located.

"Our research showed that the water here contains arsenic and
mercury, which can cause death. We submitted the results to the
local administration and Newmont, but they ignored it," he told
The Jakarta Post.

Minamata disease, which was discovered in May 1956 and named
after its place of discovery on a Japanese island, is one of the
first and most serious diseases found to have been caused by
environmental contamination from industrial waste.

Methylmercury (MeHg) contained in the waste contaminated
marine life in the surrounding waters and poisoning those who
ingested the affected fish and shellfish.

Newmont dismissed the accusations on Tuesday, saying the
company had operated in compliance with the highest environmental
standards.

"It is not true that our operations at Buyat Bay caused health
problems among the local community. PT Newmont operates in full
compliance with Indonesian and U.S. environmental standards, and
is committed to environmental stewardship and community
development," said Newmont president director Richard Ness in a
press statement.