Nabiel accused of misleading public over Buyat

Nabiel accused of misleading public over Buyat

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accused former minister
for the environment Nabiel Makarim of misleading the public in
the Buyat Bay case on Wednesday by releasing a report that had
not yet been approved by the team assigned to examine alleged
mercury contamination there.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the Mining
Advocacy Network (Jatam), and the Indonesian Center for
Environmental Law (ICEL) said in a joint statement that the
results released by Nabiel to several national and international
print media did not represent the joint team's opinion.

Nabiel handed out a report dated Oct. 14 on Monday which
showed the bay was not polluted, thus negating accusations that
PT Newmont Minahasa Raya was responsible for polluting Buyat Bay
in Minahasa, North Sulawesi.

The NGOs said that up until Oct. 19 the team had not yet
finished writing its field report and that the premature release
of the findings could cause a misinterpretation over the real
condition of Buyat Bay.

"We conclude that from the beginning the minister did not have
the good intention to solve the Buyat case. What he has done is
unethical and he has misled the public," the statement said.

Police laboratory tests suggested earlier that Buyat Bay was
contaminated with mercury and arsenic and named five Newmont
executives -- American Bill Long, Australian Phil Turner, and
three Indonesians David Sompie, Jerry Kojansow, and Putra Jayatri
-- as suspects and detained them three weeks ago.

The company's president Richard B. Ness was also declared a
suspect in the case. He was briefly held and later released due
to the health concerns.

Contacted separately, Nabiel said the information should be
open to the public and be published as soon as possible as the
public had the right to know everything.

"What I have released to the media is the true result of the
field research. Why should we hide and keep the information?
Based on the comparison between the laboratory results and
acceptable levels (of heavy metals in seawater) there is no
pollution in the bay," Nabiel told The Jakarta Post.

"The interpretation may be different but the data cannot be
changed. So let them release whatever interpretation they have,"
he added.

He said that the technical team did not have the right to
monopolize the results as it belonged to the whole society.

Newmont announced on Wednesday morning that it would launch a
legal battle to secure the release of five of its executives
detained by police over pollution allegations.

"We will bring a pre-trial motion against the police on Friday
to the South Jakarta District Court if the executives are not
released," said Luhut M Pangaribuan, Newmont's lawyer.

Luhut said that the company executives must be released
because the police had obtained all the information they needed
for the dossier.

"Besides, there are new findings that the Buyat Bay is not
polluted. So, it should be taken into considerations by the
police," he said.

Luhut added that one of those detained, Phil Turner, had a
kidney problem and was now being treated at the police hospital
because of the long detention.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman said that the
employees would not be released as the police still needed them
for questioning.

"The detention has nothing to do with the release of the
latest findings on Buyat. We have our own laboratory tests that
conclude that the bay is polluted," said Paiman.