Outboard motor credit divides Buyat villagers

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