Police begin investigating Newmont mine pollution

Jongker Rumteh and Trisna Wahyuni, Manado/Mataram

The National Police began on Thursday its investigation into the alleged pollution committed by mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, believed to have led to the death of 30 Minahasa villagers since 1996. PT Newmont Minahasa Raya is a subsidiary of U.S. gold mining giant Newmont Mining Corporation.

The investigation, coming only two days after Minahasa villagers reported the case to the National Police, focused on questioning three victims of the alleged pollution: Rashid Rahman, Masna Stirman and Jufria Ratubane.

During the investigation, police also questioned Dr. Jane Pangemanan from non-governmental organization (NGO) of the Voice of Women Foundation, who accompanied villagers to Jakarta in filing their report.

Iskandar Sitorus, a lawyer representing the victims, said afterward that the police mainly asked questions on the victims' symptoms and illnesses. He said the victims would be taken on Friday to the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Central Jakarta, for further medical tests.

Newmont was earlier accused by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) for dumping tailings containing hazardous chemicals -- including arsenic and mercury -- into Buyat Bay, where local residents regularly fish.

A Walhi report said 30 people, including an infant, had died from Minamata disease, contracted from water and fish taken from the bay.

The claims were quickly rejected by Newmont executives, with president director Richard B. Ness saying that the processing plant removed any mercury by-products before tailings were dumped into the bay.

In a related development, North Sulawesi Governor AJ Sondakh and House of Representatives legislators visited on the same day Newmont's mining operation in South Minahasa regency, North Sulawesi, following glaring national media reports on the alleged pollution.

David Sompie Newmont external relations manager David Sompie confirmed that government officials and legislators visited the company and its Buyat Bay facility, and that they had spoken with local residents and company officials.

After the visits, the government officials promised to set up a team to investigate the case.

Meanwhile, the lives of Buyat Bay residents have been largely unaffected by the media spotlight. On Wednesday, fishermen went about their business as usual, fishing in the now infamous Buyat Bay.

"I still fish and sell my catch at market. Indeed, some people are afraid of eating the fish after the media reports, but there are still a good number of people here who buy the fish I get from the Bay," said Yanuar.

In a separate development in the West Nusa Tenggara capital of Mataram, dozens of students and activists from the Network for Mining Advocacy staged a protest in the city, demanding that another subsidiary of the American mining company, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, to be held responsible for the environmental damage its operations had allegedly caused in the province.