More Buyat residents air complaints
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.