River Ajkwa polluted

River Ajkwa polluted

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: Residents along the Ajkwa River, which
flows from the outskirt of Tembagapura city to Timika, the
capital of East Mimika regency, have been warned against drinking
the polluted water, Antara reported.

Yusuf Tappang from the provincial administration's
environmental promotion bureau said Thursday that studies showed
the river was contaminated by PT Freeport Indonesia's mining
waste.

"The water is no longer potable," Tappang said in a seminar.

The mining waste, known as tailings, also affected thousands
of hectares of forest along the river, Tappang said.

Freeport has repeatedly denied pollution charges. Last year,
it hired an international environmental audit agency to back up
its claim of clean mining operations. (swe)