Police to use int'l study on Buyat as legal evidence

Police to use int'l study on Buyat as legal evidence

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

The research conducted by a Japanese expert on Minamata disease
and a World Health Organization (WHO) environmental expert in
Buyat Bay will be used as legal evidence in a possible court
trial between the residents in the area and a giant mining
company, an officer says.

National Police Deputy Chief of Detectives Insp. Gen. Dadang
Garnida said on Tuesday that police would meet with both experts
from August 12 until August 15 before they left Indonesia.

"We will include all of their conclusions in the files of the
Buyat case to accompany our own laboratory test results so that
we can get more solid evidence," said Dadang.

The Ministry of Health announced on Monday that the Japanese
expert and the WHO expert were now conducting research in Buyat
Pante village, Buyat, Minahasa in North Sulawesi, near the PT
Newmont Minahasa Raya (MNR).

The ministry explained that Mineshi Sakamoto from the National
Institute for Minamata Disease in Japan and Jan Speets, a WHO
senior environmentalist, were taking samples of fish and water,
as well as blood, hair and nail of residents to further test the
samples in a laboratory in Japan.

Sakamoto will be in Buyat until Aug. 11 before leaving for
Jakarta on Aug. 12 and returning home on Aug. 15 to also review
and evaluate all previous research conducted so far, the ministry
said.

Dadang, however, has refused to use similar scientific results
conducted by other institutions, including laboratory tests from
the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences from the
University of Indonesia (MIPA UI) and laboratory tests from the
Jakarta Health Agency.

"We will consider other test results as background
understanding for the police but they won't be included in the
legal process. It will depend on police whether to take a test
result as legal evidence or not," said Dadang.

He refused to comment when asked whether the police didn't
accept other test results because they questioned their validity.

A Jakarta Health Agency laboratory test conducted on July 28
revealed that Rasyit Rahmat, 38, had a dangerously high level of
mercury (52.50 microgram per liter (ug/L)), followed by Sri Fika
Modeong, 19, Juhria Ratumbahe, 42, and Masna Stiman, 39, with
51.25 ug/L, 38.75 ug/L, and 33.75 ug/L respectively.

Earlier, laboratory tests from MIPA UI showed that mercury
levels in the blood of Sri Fika, Juhria, Masna, and Rasyid were
between 9.51 ug/L and 23.90 u/L.

Even though both tests confirmed that the mercury content was
above the WHO's average normal limit of 8 ug/L, the results were
far from the Minamata mercury level of between 300 to 500 ug/L.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) chairman
Longgena Ginting said that rather than checking on the existence
of Minamata disease, the government should admit the damage it
has done and find the source of the contamination to be able to
stop it.

"It is alright for the government to invite experts to gather
more data on the case. However, the move should not be aimed at
covering up the environmental damage in the bay," Longgena told
The Jakarta Post.