Outboard motor credit divides Buyat villagers

The company at the center of pollution allegations in Buyat Bay, Newmont, spends Rp 3.3 billion (US$335,000) a year to improve the life of the community around its mining site, the company says.

"We have been helping the community around here since 1996," Justinus Widodo, Newmont's manager for government, community relations and environment told The Jakarta Post in his sprawling office on a hill overlooking the Buyat Bay.

One example was the offer of soft loans to fishermen to buy outboard motors for their boats.

Fishermen Busrin and Salamun who were met in Buyat village said they were among five fishermen who obtained loans for 40 horsepower (hp) motors last year.

The credit was obtained from Newmont through the Minahasa Selatan regency's Fisheries Office.

"Every month we pay an installment of Rp 350,000," Busrin said.

He said five other fishermen had also obtained credit for 5 hp outboard motors from Newmont under the arrangement made for graduates of the Marine and Fishery Faculty of the University of Sam Ratulangi.

"We pay Rp 100,000 every month to the head of the community development program at Newmont," said another fisherman Salim Modeong.

However, even before the recent rise in fuel costs, not all fishermen can regularly take their boats out to sea.

"We have to decide whether the trip is worth taking or not because it takes a lot of money to use a pajeko (40 hp powered motor boat)," Salamun said.

Fishermen needed to use at least 100 liters of petroleum, 50 liters of gasoline and six liters of oil when using pajeko, he said.

"All in all, we must have a minimum capital of Rp 500,000 to be able to go to the sea for two or three nights," he said.

Petroleum costs fishermen in Buyat Rp 1,250 per liter, gasoline Rp 3,000 and oil Rp 12,000, said Busrin.

Salamun said on bad days they only earned Rp 600,000 from the fish they sold in the market, meaning they had little to show for it.

"So we have to be really careful before deciding the right time to go to the sea. Unfortunately, other Buyat villagers are envious of us, especially when they see that our outboard motors are idle. They are not aware of the calculations," he said.

Busrin and Salamun said the months from October to December were the best time for fishing, while the low season ran from June to October.

--Harry Bhaskara & Jongker Rumteh