Tin-producing Bangka loses its luster with toxic waste

Tin-producing Bangka loses its luster with toxic waste

By Budi Pristiwanto

BANGKA ISLAND, South Sumatra (JP): The heyday of Bangka as a
tin-producing island is fading. Before the 1970s, the island's
residents used to shop with dollars.

Money from excavating tin is no longer as abundant as it was
in the past. Newspapers have often reported on the gloomy
condition of the tin mining business. The downturn of tin prices
on the world market and the high production costs are seen as the
main causes for the gloomy prognosis. Layoffs and other social
problems are commonplace.

In a recent media statement PT Tambang Timah said that the
company's net profit dropped from Rp 305.7 billion on June 30,
1998, to Rp 182.1 billion on June 30, 1999. For many people, the
news was not overly surprising.

Tin mining in Bangka was taking place at the time of the Dutch
East India Company (VOC -- a Dutch colonial trading company) some
200 years ago. The remaining tin reserves on Bangka island are
estimated at 523,996 tons. If PT Tambang Timah's production
averages 20,000 tons a year, the tin reserves on the island will
be depleted in 26 years.

With a surface area of 11,615 square kilometers, the island
will undergo the same fate as the neighboring, parallel island of
Singkep that is apparently now a dying town.

"The tin party ended a long time ago. What will be left is
bleak scenery. Old timeworn buildings, untended parks, and a
majority of old residents because the younger people will have
moved to work in other regions," said Chairul, 30, who lives in
Pangkal Pinang, Bangka regency.

In anticipation of the situation, the South Sumatra provincial
government is planning to launch a land reclamation project in
the coastal area. A number of kolong will be included. They are
former sites of tin excavations resembling lakes with a depth of
six to 10 meters, which are currently nonproductive and in a
state of neglect.

PT Bangka Dwiwukir Lestari (PT BDL) of Pangkal Pinang welcomes
the regional government's plan. It has proposed that the
reclamation project uses landfill from the underground railway
tunnel project in Singapore -- totaling some 1.2 million cubic
meters.

The local government has agreed to the proposal because the
landfill will be free. In addition, there is the incentive of
US$1 compensation from the Singapore government for every cubic
meter of mud imported from Singapore.

Former state minister of the environment/head of the
environmental impact controlling board Panangian Siregar issued a
recommendation for the landfill import plan on April 7, 1999, for
a cooperation deal between PT BDL and PT Sinar Intimasprima with
LW Management Consultants Pte. Ltd. from Singapore.

It was not surprising that non-governmental organizations,
namely the Indonesian forum for environment (Walhi), the Legal
Aid Institute (LBH) and the Bangka Family Association, together
with students launched strong protests against the government's
stance. "That is not landfill obtained from digging but toxic
waste," said director of LBH Palembang Suharyono.

Suharyono maintained that the landfill to be sent to Bangka
would be the same type as material rejected by communities in
Riau and Lampung. He says that based on laboratory tests at the
Center for the Control of Environmental Impact in Jakarta, the
landfill clearly contains toxic waste.

Five samples analyzed by the Center demonstrated that the
level of the lethal doses (LD-50) is 1.9 to 5.7 gr/kg. It means
that contamination by waste in that range, per kilogram of body
weight, has a 50 percent death risk.

The smaller the figure of LD-50, the more toxic the material
is. In government regulation No. 18/1999 on toxic waste, waste is
registered in that category if the LD-50 is less than 15 gr/kg.

Surharyono said that it was even more astonishing that the
Singapore Embassy in Jakarta sent him a letter signed by First
Secretary Low Pit Chien dated March 15, 1999, saying that the
Singapore's minister for the environment had not provided a
permit to any company to export waste to Indonesia.

"That was the explanation from the government of Singapore.
The South Sumatra provincial government may have been used by a
group of people wishing to make a profit by sacrificing Bangka
island. The provincial government should be wary and not easily
tempted," Suharyono urged.

The South Sumatra provincial government apparently still
wishes to import the landfill. "One should not make accusatory
statements that the landfill is toxic waste. There is also a test
result from another institute saying that the dirt is not toxic
so we can use it," said South Sumatra Governor Rosihan Arsyad.

The pros and cons regarding the import of mud from Singapore
are still being debated. Nobody knows who is going to win. It is
certain though that the name of Bangka island remains popular,
although discussions about it are no longer on the subject of
tin.