RELATED LINKS
Previous Irian Jaya News
Current Issues Home Page
THE RECORD -LINKS TO RECENT NEWS ON THE IRIAN JAYA QUEST FOR INDEPENDENCE
Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Environmentalists demand Freeport's temporary closure
=======================================================
Subj: Re: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Dutch MPs in Papua - Margareet De Boer
=======================================================
Subj: DJ: Freeport says it will look for alternative site to dump waste
=======================================================
Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Dutch MPs in Papua
=======================================================
Subj: RT: Indonesia won't suspend Freeport production
=======================================================
Subj: JP: Freeport to be told to close Wanagong dumping site temporarily
=======================================================
Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] VEEp to visit West Papua
=======================================================
Subj: KABAR-IRIAN: [EN] Wahid uncertain about attending WP congress
=======================================================
The Age (Melbourne)
Date: 5/15/00 3:16:46 PM Central Daylight Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
Jakarta Post
May 16, 2000
National News
Environmentalists demand Freeport's
temporary closure
JAKARTA (JP): An environmental group demanded a
temporary halt to operations of mining company PT
Freeport Indonesia following a May 4 accident which
resulted in four missing workers.
The chairwoman of the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment (Walhi) Emmy Hafild also announced on
Monday the organization's plans to sue Freeport on
charges of environmental damage.
Walhi said Freeport had violated the 1997 environment law,
and government regulations on water pollution, rivers and
management of toxic materials and other harmful waste.
"We (Walhi) will be filing a lawsuit against the company
this week and demand a temporary closure of Freeport until
the company meets requirements for safe operation of its
facility," Emmy said, adding that Walhi also wants a review
of Freeport's contract.
Walhi is not recommending the permanent closure of the
company in Irian Jaya, she said. "For who would take care
of the environment rehabilitation then?"
Walhi also demanded that Freeport reduce its production
scale to a safe level.
Emmy said the Wanagon basin accident was caused
because it could not accommodate the waste from Freeport
-- some 260,000 tons every day.
"Even at 33,000 tons during 1973 to 1990, the company's
activities had a devastating impact on the environment,"
Emmy told a press conference.
Emmy also said that an independent analysis was needed
in order to determine an acceptable production scale for
the
company.
The accident at the Grasberg mine in Tembagapura, Mimika
regency was caused by the slippage of overburden, which
caused a wave of water and material to overflow the
Wanagon basin spillway and enter Wanagon Valley.
Company officials blamed four days of rainfall -- which
reached an average of 40 millimeters a day -- as the cause
of the accident.
Antara on Monday quoted Mimika regent T.O. Potereyauw
as saying that the search had continued for the four
missing victims, but so far with no results.
Walhi's report said 420 million tons of solid waste had
been
produced by Freeport's mining operation since 1995, about
95 percent of which was dumped in the Wanagon Valley.
Walhi activist Joko Waluyo, who observed the site after
the incident, said that the 50-meter high wave had also
destroyed pig stys, vegetable gardens and a burial ground
of the Amungme tribe in Banti village, some 12 kilometers
downstream of the basin.
Emmy said that the earlier statement of Freeport's
president
director Adrie Machribie's, which blamed heavy rain for the
incident, was "unacceptable."
She said that Walhi had warned Freeport "years ago"
about the possibility of heavy rain damaging the dumping
system but "Freeport said that they had already calculated
(the rain factor)."
Protest
Meanwhile in Jayapura, hundreds of Irianese students held
a peaceful demonstration at the local legislature demanding
that the government re- evaluate the company's
Environmental Impact Assessment (AMDAL).
Spokesman for the demonstrators, Diaz Gwijangge, said
"Wanagon Lake is a sacred place for the Amungme tribe ...
Freeport has been deliberately destroying the tribe's
spiritual lands and culture."
The protesters also demanded that Freeport stop dumping
waste in Mimika's Ajkwa River, saying that the practice has
destroyed thousands of hectares of mangrove and sago
palm trees.
Yance Kayame, a member of the provincial council who met
the students, said that they were collecting data -- to be
eventually submitted to non- government organizations
working on the environment -- to decide the company's
fate.
Legislators in Jakarta announced that Freeport's contract
could be revised if the company was found guilty of its
involvement in the incident. Calls for a temporary halt to
production operations, such as those raised by Walhi,
evoke the controversy surrounding rayon and pulp
producer PT Inti Indorayon Utama in North Sumatra and
gold mining firm PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in North
Sulawesi.
In both cases the government issued conflicting decisions,
raising feelings of insecurity among business operators.
(08/eba)
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
Date: 5/15/00 3:34:54 PM Central Daylight Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Anonymous writes:
The remarks in regard to, solving disagreements between Jakarta and the
Papuans without interference from outside, made by the Dutch delegation
leader Margareet De Boer is a typical representation of a very weak,
shamefully guilty and a dishonest government. She also expects us to
understand that decisions made from those years cannot be undone. She
forgets that those decisions made from those years are based on lies, deceit
and treachery. The Dutch goverment is a major party in those decisions and
blood is also on their hands.
Regardless of how western goverments potray to the world of their principles
of justice, it really boils down to MONEY and CONTROL. Put MONEY in to get
CONTROL and control to get MONEY. Facts are twisted, smoothed and shaded to
obtain MONEY and CONTROL. West Papua has been a victiom of this.
Now, the western goverments such as the dutch government do not want to
interfere when they were the ones that created this mess. It is time they
come out of their holes and fix up what they have done and also show to the
world that they have a backbone and can uphold their principles of justice
which currently is only words.
Truth will always surface at the end, justice will always be served
irregardless of methods and time.
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
Date: 5/15/00 11:17:23 AM Central Daylight Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Tapol)
To: reg.westpapua@gn.apc.org, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, taylorjb@vax.sbu.ac.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Dow Jones Newswires
May 15, 2000
Indonesia Freeport Unit Ordered To Relocate Waste Dump
JAKARTA-- U.S. miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) said Monday it
would look for an alternative site to dump waste from its Grasberg gold and
copper mine in West Papua province after the Indonesian government ordered
the suspension of dumping in the Wanagon basin.
The suspension follows a landslide May 4 at a rock-waste dump adjacent to the
basin that caused the overflow of potentially toxic materials such as refuse
containing copper ore. Rescue teams are still searching for the remains of
four subcontracted workers swept away by the flood.
The Indonesian mines and energy ministry said late Friday that PT Freeport
Indonesia, a unit of Freeport-McMoRan, must find an alternative dump site and
receive approval from the ministry for the new site. But it didn't suspend
Freeport's operations over the landslide, as Environment Minister Sonny Keraf
had threatened.
"We accept and respect the government's decision. We are trying to find a
solution to the problem," said Freeport spokesman Siddharta Moersjid.
Critics say Freeport ignored pressure from the central government to reduce
the risk posed by the dumping of waste in the basin after a similar, nonfatal
landslide at the site in 1998.
The latest incident has also added fuel to the demands from resource-rich
outer regions such as West Papua province for greater control over such
industries, as well as a higher share of profits.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
**************************************************
Date: 5/14/00 6:19:28 PM Central Daylight Time
From: admin@irja.org (Admin)
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
To: kabar-irian@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Subject: Dutch MPs in Papua
translated from Dutch by PaVo, Utrecht
NRC Handelsblad - May 12, 2000
By our correspondent Dirk Vlasblom
Jayapura
'FREE PAPUA' IS HOPING FOR SUPPORT FROM THE NETHERLANDS
This week, six members of the Dutch Parliament visited
Papua. They had
to manoeuvre between a distrusting provincial government
and the Papuan
people who want to be independent and are hoping for
Dutch support.
'I do speak Dutch but I won't do because I hate the
Netherlands. You
handed us over to the Indonesian killers'. A slight
shock goes through
the hot, fully packed meeting room of the episcopate
Jayapura. Terry
Aronggear, a former political detainee, selects hard
words, but the old
Papuan who is interpreting, makes them softer: from
Terry's hate he
makes 'pain in the heart'. Aronngear: On May 17, 1965
(two years after
the hand-over of former Dutch New Guinea to Indonesia) I
was one of the
founders of the Organisation Free Papua (OPM) in
Manokwari. I was caught
by the Indonesian army, maltreated with a piece of wood
and sentenced to
seven years imprisonment. In July 1965, the small OPM
army of the Awom
brothers attacked an army base and 138 Indonesian
soldiers were killed.
In the subsequent five years, the army killed 5,146
civilians in the
whole province'.
ELSHAM, an organisation that promotes the rights of the
people in Papua,
and the Roman Catholic Secretariat for Justice and Peace
organised a
meeting between six members of the Dutch Parliament and
- mostly old -
Papuans who give a personal testimony on the 37 years of
Indonesian
administration. One of them is Herman Takai Yetouw. In
1969 he was one
of the 1026 Papuans (1.3% of the population) selected by
Indonesia who
could participate in the 'people's consultation' on the
status of then
West-Irian. 'We were accommodated in a dormitory, were
not allowed to
leave and thus had no contact with the outside world. We
were threatened
and we did what we were told: voting for integration
with Indonesia'.
The witnesses reach the same conclusion: the Netherlands
carries
responsibility for the fate of the Papuans. The dialogue
promised by the
Wahid-government is not getting off the ground and the
Papuans want to
go international with their demand for freedom. But they
don't have a
vote in the United Nations and the Netherlands could
provide them with
it. The six MPs are impressed by the presentations and
say so. Eimert
Van Middelkoop (GPV) mentions the historical research
into the
decision-making concerning former Dutch New Guinea in
the years
1962-'69 that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on
request of Parliament
will contract out to an independent institute.
Apparently, the head of
the delegation Margreeth De Boer (PvdA) doesn't want to
raise false
expectations and reacts: 'You have to understand that
the decisions from
those years cannot be undone'.
Right upon arrival in Jayapura, the visit from the
Netherlands became a
sparring match between the authorities and the people's
movement for a
free Papua. Two programs were circulating: one from the
provincial
government and one from the Dutch embassy. The latter
mentioned a
meeting on Wednesday morning with 'non-governmental
organisations'. What
was meant - although not mentioned by name - was the
Papuan Presidium
which has been formed in February and still has not been
legalised. The
programme from the province mentioned for the same hour
a courtesy call
to the provincial parliament. Tuesday morning, shortly
after arrival of
the delegation in the hotel, a group of members of the
Papua taskforce -
the strong but unarmed wing of the Presidium - takes
position at the
entrance with the message: 'You cannot leave because the
Great Leader
Theys is coming'.
Theys Hiyo Eluay, a Sentani Papua with a head of white
hair and a
goatee, was at some time appointed by the
Suharto-government as
'traditional leader', an honorary position without
power. However, after
Suharto's fall he converted into a promoter of
independence. He is held
in high regard by the Papua taskforce, mostly jobless
youth, and in
February he was made member of the Papua Presidium in
order to keep him
and his men under control.
Indonesian courtesy demands that visitors are first
received by the
highest official in Papua, the governor. Theys sees it
differently and
enters the hotel. Dutch ambassador Van Heemstra shortly
speaks to him
and reminds Theys that his turn as member of the
Presidium will be the
next day. The Great Leader leaves again because he
achieved his aim:
everybody could see that he had been the first to speak
with the Dutch
guests.
That afternoon the delegation leaves for the residence
of the care-taker
governor. The villa used to be the residence of the last
Dutch governor,
P.J. Platteel (1958-1962). Musiran Darmosuwito, a
Javanese, has only
recently been installed. His predecessor, the Papuan
Freddy Numberi, was
appointed a minister in the Wahid-government, last
October. In July, the
provincial parliament has to elect a new governor and
that will be a
Papuan. Darmosuwito is flanked by officers including the
army commander
for Papua, major-general Alberth Inkiriwang from
North-Sulawesi. The
many uniforms clearly indicate that the provincial
government considers
this Dutch visit a security risk.
The next morning the delegation is received by the Papua
Presidium, the
executive body of the movement for independence, in a
hotel in Jayapura.
Different from the legal authority in the province, this
body is totally
made up of Papuans: intellectuals, the vice-chairman of
the protestant
synod, traditional leaders and political exiles.
After this meeting, the head of the delegation De Boer
speaks to the
local media. Asked about the Dutch reaction on the
aspiration for
freedom in Papua, she answers: 'We support President
Wahid's efforts for
democratisation and we share his opinion that democracy
entails the
right to freely discuss all kind of issues. We will
inform the Dutch
government about the aspirations of the Papuan people
but 'Jakarta' and
the Papuans have to solve their disagreements together,
without
interference from outside, in the scope of a
democratised Indonesia'.
----- End forwarded message -----
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
Date: 5/14/00 5:24:45 AM Central Daylight Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Tapol)
To: reg.westpapua@gn.apc.org, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, taylorjb@vax.sbu.ac.uk, indonesia-act@igc.apc.org, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, taylorjb@vax.sbu.ac.uk, andy@sumner93.freeserve.co.uk, robinr@quaker.org.uk, jonathan.head@bbc.co.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Indonesia won't suspend Freeport production
JAKARTA, May 12 (Reuters) - The Indonesian government said on Friday it would
not suspend Freeport Indonesia's copper and gold production over a recent
accident, but ordered it to stop dumping waste at the Wanagon lake where the
accident happened.
Announcing the move, the Mining and Energy Department said the site was the
company's only waste dump, which could force it to halt its open pit mining
operations.
But a Freeport spokesman said there was an alternative dump.
A waste dump at the lake collapsed last week, sending a flood of water into
the valley and leaving four workers missing and presumed dead.
``The Department of Mining and Energy has decided that PT Freeport Indonesia
can no longer dump overburden (waste) into Wanagon lake until it can provide
an alternative solution that can be approved by the department,'' Surna
Tjahya Djayadiningrat, the ministry's director-general told reporters.
Freeport spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan told Reuters by telephone from the mine
in Irian Jaya the company did not want to comment until it had seen the
letter and knew if the ban was temporary or permanent.
``But Freeport... has two locations to dump its waste,'' he said. ``The
locations are in Cartenz and Lake Wanagon -- one on the west side of the
Grasberg mine and the other one on the southeast side.
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
Date: 5/15/00 8:13:52 AM Central Daylight Time
From: plovers@gn.apc.org (Tapol)
To: reg.westpapua@gn.apc.org, u.braun@xcc.de, slliem@xs4all.nl, taylorjb@vax.sbu.ac.uk
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
Jakarta Post
May 13, 2000
Freeport told to close Wanagong dumping site
JAKARTA (JP): The government will order copper and gold mining company PT
Freeport Indonesia to temporarily stop using Lake Wanagong as a dumping site,
following an incident that led to the disappearance of four workers.
Director general of general mining at the Ministry of Mines and Energy Surna
Tjahja Djajadiningrat said on Friday the government had decided to
temporarily bar Freeport from dumping the top soil of its mine -- which is
also called overburden in the industry -- into the lake until it improved
safety measures at the site.
Surna said he would sign the letter of order later on Friday and send it to
Freeport.
"You could say that we've suspended Freeport's utilization of Lake Wanagong
as its dumping ground," Surna said in a media briefing.
The order, he said, followed a recommendation by the joint team of the
ministry and the Environmental Management Agency (Bapedal), members of which
have just returned from investigating the cause of the landslide.
Last week, a large pile of overburden broke off and collapsed into Lake
Wanagong, causing a massive wave that swept away four workers of Freeport's
contractors, PT Petrosea and PT Graha Buana Jaya working near the lake. The
four workers are still missing.
Surna said if Freeport was unable to apply safety measures at Lake Wanagong,
it would have to find another area for its overburden.
Surna declined to provide details on the impact of the suspension order on
Freeport's operation.
"As far as I know, without a dumping site, Freeport will not be able to
operate for longer than two months," he said.
State Minister of Environment Sonny Keraf earlier said the government might
suspend Freeport's operation if negligence was proved to be behind the
accident.
However, Surna said, thus far the team, who returned from Freeport on
Thursday, was unable to determine the exact cause of the incident.
Freeport has blamed the collapse of the overburden pile on heavy rainfall,
which reached on average of 40 millimeters last week.
According to Sonny, it was the third time the pile had broken up. In 1998,
heavy rain triggered a slide, while last March it was due to an earthquake.
In both cases, Freeport reported no deaths or injuries.
Freeport had reportedly installed an early warning system on the top of the
overburden pile and down at the lake, but Surna said it remained unclear why
the early warning systems failed to function.
Surna said the government and Freeport would continue to investigate this
matter.
Freeport spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan said he respected the government's
decision, but refused to further elaborate, as the company had yet to
formally receive the order.
He said apart from Lake Wanagong, Freeport had a second dumping site,
Qartenz, located southeast from the lake.
Mindo said that albeit the government's decision, Freeport could keep
operating at its normal production rate of 230,000 metric tons of ore per
day.
He admitted, however, that if Freeport was prohibited from using Lake
Wanagong for a long period, the company might have to "adjust" its production
rate.
Legislator Pramono Anung praised the government's decision, saying it was a
step forward in disciplining Freeport.
He blamed the incident on a surge in the company's production, which caused
the volume of overburden to significantly increase and added that the
landslide indicated that the company was not yet fully prepared to expand its
output to 300,000 tons of ore per day.
He said no landslide accidents had occurred at Freeport's mine until 1997,
when its output stood at 150,000 tons of ore per day. (bkm)
**************************************************
Paul Barber
TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign,
25 Plovers Way, Alton Hampshire GU34 2JJ
Tel/Fax: 01420 80153
Email: plovers@gn.apc.org
Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol
Defending victims of oppression in Indonesia and
East Timor, 1973-2000
Date: 5/13/00 9:59:00 PM Central Daylight Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National News
Veep To Visit Papua
Saturday, May 13, 2000/1:54:53 PM
Sorong, Papua, May 13 (ANTARA)
Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri and 10 cabinet ministers are
scheduled to make a 2-day visit to Irian Jaya, Indonesia`s most
eastern province, starting May 21.
During the visit, Megawati will meet poor people living in a
transmigration area and an isolated part of Sorong district,
spokesman of the local administration, Zeth Aiyal, said here
Saturday.
Megawati`s visit would be part of the implementation of a government
program to eradicate poverty and illiteracy, and improve people`s
health.
Apart from Sorong, the vice president would also visit Jayapura,
Timika and Merauke.
During her visit, Megawati would not deal with political issues,
Aiyal said.
Political stability in Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, is sometimes
jeopardized by activities of a separatist movement calling itself
"Free Papua Organisation" (OPM).
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are posted for their news/information content. They are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
Date: 5/13/00 8:54:33 AM Central Daylight Time
From: admin@irja.org
Sender: owner-kabar-irian@irja.org
Reply-to: admin@irja.org
Too much mail? Try our digest version. Info available at
http://www.irja.org/conf.htm
Received from Joyo Indonesian News
[Joyo has no idea if symbols embedded in Indon Ob articles will appear after
sending this, as they are not visible in the text prior to sending.]
Indonesian Observer
11st May 2000
Wahid uncertain whether to attend Papua congress
JAKARTA (IO) " President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday said he is yet to
decide whether to attend an upcoming congress of the Free Papua Movement
(OPM) separatist group, as his attendance could spark controversy.
"Intelligence and government officials have asked me not to attend the
congress, because my presence would mean recognition of the organization,"
the president was quoted as saying by Antara in Bangkok.
He said the OPM is keen on seeing him attend the congress to show that he is
a true democrat. "I have yet to decide on this," he added.
Earlier this year, Wahid told the rebels in Irian Jaya (Papua) he would open
their congress. He said they are welcome to discuss separatism and
independence, but must not undertake any physical actions that could
threaten national unity.
The president has also apologized for military atrocities in the nation's
easternmost province.
Indonesia occupied West Papua, a Dutch colony, in 1963. The region was
renamed Irian Jaya and Indonesian sovereignty was formalized in 1969
following a dubious vote organized by the United Nations.
Secret US government documents at the time showed that UN officials in West
Papua believed 95% of the local population wanted independence, and "the Act
of Free Choice is a mockery".
In the act, 1,025 Papuans, selected by Indonesia, voted on behalf of the
territory's 800,000 people. Western nations knew the vote was unfair but did
nothing about it.
In recent years, one of the main complaints of the separatists has been the
rapid transmigration of people from other Indonesian islands coming to Irian
Jaya and depriving the indigenous population of work and education
opportunities.
Until mid-1998, the Indonesian military ran the province using repressive
tactics. Thousands of locals were reportedly killed and tortured during a
series of anti-insurgency operations. In 1998, the government abolished the
state of emergency and repression eased. But independence activists have
been emboldened by the 1999 secession of East Timor and protests have
mounted.
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: "All items are not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
Mine a focus in island warfare
By John Elder
Sunday 14 May 2000
In 1997, in the Solomon Islands, dissident landowners were holding
out for a better compensation deal from Ross Mining's then proposed
Gold Ridge project, and warned the company there would be "another
Bougainville" if their claims were not met.
Last week, the Australian Government was asked to send troops to
bolster multinational and local security forces in the Solomons, as
they try to contain spiralling and increasingly gruesome violence
between rival militia groups from turning to full-blown civil war.
That is, another Bougainville.
The conflict is partly ethnic-based, but rebels on the main island
of Guadalcanal have reportedly threatened to close the Gold Ridge
gold mine which has been operating under local police protection
since last year.
There was a gunfight between security forces and rebels at the mine
site in January and, in recent weeks, further shootouts close to the
mine. With Australian Defence Force examining contingency plans to
evacuate Australians from the islands, and some regional diplomats
describing the violence as out of control, Gold Ridge's future
cannot be certain.
There's a lot at stake. The development of Gold Ridge pulled the
Solomons Island Government from the brink of bankruptcy, and is now
worth 30 per cent of the island state's GNP. Two days ago,
Brisbane-based Ross Mining, after accepting an unconditional
takeover offer last month, became a wholly owned subsidiary of
Sydney-based Delta Gold.
A news release from the company, also on Friday, said production
levels at Gold Ridge have been unaffected, staff were being flown to
work by helicopter as a security measure, rosters were being
organised to minimise the numbers of people on site at any time, and
there was confidence that order would be restored. "Strong support
is also being provided from neighboring countries including
Australia." Last week, diplomatic sources said it was unlikely
Australia would send police to assist with the crisis.
Meanwhile, a landslide at Grasberg gold and copper mine in Irian
Jaya left four workers missing, a valley polluted and the Indonesian
Government talking tough. Environment Minister Soni Keraf told a
news conference in Jakarta that a government team was assessing
damage to the environment, that mine operations would "very likely"
be suspended pending results, and that a criminal investigation
would follow if warranted. "This is the third time that a similar
incident has happened," he said.
The mine's operator, PT Freeport Indonesia, blamed the accident on
heavy rainfall and said the government would need strong grounds to
order a stoppage. "If at this stage the idea is just a thought of
the minister then we cannot comment very much about it," said a
Freeport spokesman.
The Environment Minister and the mining company have been in unhappy
embrace for some months. In February, Mr Keraf threatened to close
Freeport if the company was found to be polluting the environment
following reports that the Grasberg mine had contaminated molluscs
(a common food for local communities) in the nearby rivers and
destroyed mangrove forests. International environmental groups have
long targeted the mine as a major disaster in waiting.
But the stakes are high. The Grasberg mine contains the largest
known gold body in the world and the second-largest copper body.
Suspension of production would have a dramatic effect on metals
markets.
More problematic for Indonesia and its Environment Minister:
Freeport is the country's biggest taxpayer. Freeport is more than 80
per cent owned by US company Freeport McMoRan Copper Gold, with Rio
Tinto and the Indonesian government roughly splitting the remainder.
-WITH AGENCIES
KABAR IRIAN ("Irian News") www.kabar-irian.com
NOTE: " These Items are
not necessarily the views of IRJA.org or subscribers. "
E-Mail:
issues@mailcity.com
