Our common responsibility

Our common responsibility

When inaugurating the new town of Kuala Kencana and the PT Freeport Indonesia environmental laboratory at East Timika, Fak Fak in Irian Jaya on Tuesday, President Soeharto specifically asked the mining company to constantly heed the anxieties of the population regarding the possible negative affects of its operations. In his address the President warned that the government would not tolerate mining activities which damaged the environment.

In this connection it is appropriate to note the statement by Head of East Java Prosecutor's Office Sudjono C. Atmonegoro in Surabaya recently that damage to the environment, if left unheeded, could crimes endanger the safety of people more than ordinary crimes.

In this context we have seen many disputes and conflicting arguments erupt between non-governmental organizations and companies concerning the effects of contamination and environmental damage. Specifically, the dispute which has been going on for the past few months between the Indonesian Environmental Forum and the copper mining company Freeport Indonesia could be mentioned.

Aside from those arguments, the warnings by the President and the Prosecutor's Office of East Java are timely: the damage done to the environment has now reached a critical stage and should be tackled seriously.

-- Surabaya Post