More Buyat residents air complaints
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta
Eleven more residents from around Buyat Bay, Minahasa, North Sulawesi, came to National Police Headquarters on Wednesday in an attempt to convince investigators that they were suffering symptoms of illness due to the effects of pollution.
Most of the residents had developed swellings on various parts of their bodies, including four babies whose lips, faces and torsos had swollen up. Others complained of headaches, nausea and cramps.
One of the residents, Jeane Rorong, 34, said she frequently suffered from cramps and headaches, while her year-old baby, Chrifanes Ismail, had developed a lump on his lip.
Jeane blamed mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya for all her family's woes.
"We are demanding that Newmont provide us with medical treatment and rehabilitate the environment. They take our gold and pollute our environment," she said.
Jane Pangemanan, a village doctor who accompanied the residents, said the people had left their remote villages to come to Jakarta to draw the government's attention to environmental destruction and contamination in Buyat Bay.
"Government institutions seem to find it difficult to believe that the Buyat Bay residents are suffering from illnesses as a result of pollution. They have been very slow to deal with this case. We hope that these people will be able to convince them," said Jane.
A police investigator who recently visited the bay, Comr. Sulis, said he had heard similar complaints of illness from many other Buyat residents living near the bay.
"However, we will have to wait for the results of our laboratory tests before arriving at any conclusions. We will accept any reports that come our way and compare them with our test results," said Sulis.
Previously, four residents had reported the U.S.-based mining firm to the police for allegedly dumping harmful substances that had caused illnesses in local residents. They also filed a lawsuit against three ministers for allegedly lying to the public. The ministers had said that the bay was not contaminated.
Laboratory tests conducted by the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Indonesia (MIPA UI) revealed mercury levels in the blood of Sri Fika, Jukria, Masnah, and Rasyid Rahmat of between 9.51 and 23.90 microns per liter (u/L), above the World Health Organization's maximum limit of 8 u/L.
Jane said the 11 residents would also undergo blood tests at the MIPA UI to measure the levels of mercury and arsenic in their bloodstreams.
However, Keith Bentley, a former WHO regional chemical safety advisor, said that there were no international standards to determine the tolerable level of mercury in human blood.
"The 8 u/L level is just an average level of mercury for the global world community, but we have no international standard for mercury levels in the blood. So, it says nothing about the health of the people," said Bentley.
He said the level of mercury in the bloodstream depended on how much fish people ate every day.
"We would expect around 8 u/L for a low fish-eating community, around 8 to 50 u/L for a medium fish-eating community, and around 50 to 100 u/L for a high fish-eating community," said Bentley.
He said that the mercury levels in the blood of the four Buyat Bay residents who had been tested earlier indicated that they came from a medium fish-eating community, and that the levels were therefore normal.
Bentley said that many people had much higher mercury levels in their blood, but displayed no symptoms of disease.