Analyst calls for end to all mining operations in North Sulawesi

An analyst in North Sulawesi called on Wednesday for the closure of all mining operations in North Sulawesi, saying mercury poisoning in the province had reached an alarming level.

"If we want to save the North Sulawesi people from mercury poisoning, there is no way but to close all mining operations in the province, including the modern mining operation conducted by big companies and the illegal mining operations," marine biologist Janny Dirk Kusen of Manado's Sam Ratulangi University was quoted by Manado Post as saying.

Kusen said he had proposed the idea during a meeting on Tuesday arranged by the province's environmental supervision office. The meeting, which involved marine experts and the local governmental officials, aimed at studying measures to cope with mercury poisoning in the province.

Kusen said he told the meeting that the province had two options to save the province's people from mercury poisoning. The first option, which is a radical option, is to close all mining operations in the province. The second option is to allow several mining companies to continue with their mining operations provided that they follow the environmental protection standards.

Kusen said he preferred the first option.

He said the safety and the future of the people living in the province is more important than gold produced mining operators in the province.

As a matter of fact, mining operations had not brought many benefits to the province, saying no one in the province had died from poverty prior to the start of mining operations in the province and no one in the province had become billionaire after mining industry started in the province. (*)