Newmont's Ness, five others detained
Newmont's Ness, five others detained
Abdul Khalik
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
President Director of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (MNR) Richard
Bruce Ness and five other company officers have been placed in
police detention despite the fact that they have been cooperating
with the police investigation into alleged pollution in Buyat
bay.
Ness and Phil Turner, Newmont's production and maintenance
manager, were detained after undergoing ten hours of questioning
on Thursday.
Four others -- site manager Bill Long, external relations
manager David Sompie, environment superintendent Jerry Kojansow
and waste processing superintendent Putra Wijayanti -- were taken
into police custody on Wednesday evening.
Police had earlier charged the six as suspects in the
pollution case.
The National Police's director of specific crimes, Brig. Gen.
Suharto, said on Thursday that the police had established
sufficient prima facie evidence to detain all of the suspects
until their case files were complete.
"It is easier for us to question them if they are all here as
we won't have to send out summonses every time we need them. This
will allow us to complete the investigation faster," said
Suharto.
Suharto said the police expected to finish the case files on
the suspects in less than two weeks pending explanations from a
number of other experts, including Muladi, an environmental law
expert from the University of Diponegoro, Semarang, Central Java.
Newmont expressed concern over the police's decision to detain
Ness and five other company officers, saying that the company had
guaranteed that it would fully cooperate with the police in their
investigations.
"PT NMR believes that these detentions are unnecessary as the
company has guaranteed it will cooperate fully, and the employees
have always complied with police summonses," the company said in
a statement on Thursday.
"NMR fully supports its employees and their family members and
will take legal steps to secure their release from detention," it
said.
Newmont has been accused of polluting Buyat bay, where it has
been dumping its tailings since 1996. The police say their
forensic tests found that the level of heavy metals in Buyat bay
exceeded the safety levels set by the Office of the State
Minister for the Environment.
The company has denied the pollution allegations but local and
international media have shown pictures of villagers living close
to the mine with skin diseases and large lumps they claim were
caused by pollution from the mine.
The government has formed a joint team comprising officials
from the Office of the State Minister for the Environment, the
Ministry of Health and the police to take more samples from the
bay.
The police had earlier announced that all of the suspects had
been charged under Articles 41, 42, 43, 44, and 46 of Law No.
23/1997 on environmental pollution caused by an individual.
Under this law, an individual who deliberately contaminates
the environment is liable to 10 years in prison while if his
conduct causes harm or injury to human beings, he or she is
liable to 15 years in prison.
Suharto said on Thursday that the police would question the
State Minister for the Environment, Nabiel Makarim, on Friday as
to whether the company had submitted regular reports on its waste
disposal system and whether the company had fulfilled other
ministry requirements.