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.