Mining moratorium

Your article of June 5, 2002, titled Mining operations put environment at risk, will put your credibility at risk because you are using information and data that are not credible. Maybe you were quoting statements issued by antimining non-governmental organizations (NGOs) without checking with the experts concerned.

The investment climate in Indonesia, especially in mining, has been unfavorable since 1999, as most mining operations have suffered from legal uncertainties and insecurity. The result is that field operations have been suspended or closed. Investors in mining explorations left the country and the business is at its lowest ebb. No new investors are entering the mining industry.

For the benefit of poor people in the remote areas of East Indonesia, please do not support a moratorium on mining as that will deprive hundreds of thousands of people of jobs and is counterproductive to poverty eradication efforts.

The call for a moratorium in the Indonesian mining industry originated from rich foreign NGOs and was picked up by some Jakarta-based NGOs.

PAUL COUTRIER

Jakarta

Note: The Jakarta Post interviewed and included comments in the article from Richard Ness, an executive of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, in order to comply with the principle of "covering both sides". --Editor