NGOs urge govt to appeal Newmont case

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Environmentalists slammed on Wednesday the South Jakarta District Court's decision to throw out a US$133 million civil suit against mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) and urged the Office of the State Minister of the Environment to file an appeal.

Activists and legal experts from NGOs advocating environmental issues said the decision was made based on an obscure judgment.

Executive director of Greenlaw Indonesia, Andri Akbar Chaniago, said that the verdict was obscure because the substance of the lawsuit was not about the dispute between the Indonesian government and the company, but about the company's violation of the country's environmental regulations.

"Yes a (mining) contract is pacta sunt servanda, meaning that it should be respected by the two parties involved and solved through mediation (in case of a dispute). But that doesn't mean one of them is allowed to violate the law. The judges should have also considered that Newmont has violated the law on the environment," said Andri, who is an expert on international pacts.

The judges at the South Jakarta District Court decided on Tuesday that they did not have jurisdiction to try the alleged environmental pollution case, arguing that according to the contract between the government and the mining firm, any disputes arising between the two had to be resolved through reconciliation and/or international arbitration.

Executive director of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law, Indro Sugianto, said it was the ministry's duty to appeal the court's decision.

"Should the government accept the court's decision, we will sue the ministry for failing to carry out the people's mandate in protecting the country's environment," Indro said.

He said the Constitution and Law No. 23/1997 on the environment stipulated that every citizen had the right to enjoy healthy environment.

"Pollution carried out by Newmont clearly has violated the laws, therefore it is the government's duty to bring the perpetrators to the court," he said.

NMR, a local subsidiary of the world's largest U.S.-based gold producer, Newmont Mining Corp., has been accused of polluting Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi.

Siti Maimunah, of the Mining Advocacy Network, said that a coalition of NGOs would ask the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission to examine the judges' decision.

"Both of them should investigate whether the judges used the correct legal arguments in making the decision," she said.