Freeport's impacts on snow-covered mount top needs to be researched

The impacts of PT Freeport Indonesia's (PTFI) mining activities in Tembagapura, Irian Jaya, on the snow-covered mount top of the Cartentz mountain range in the Laurentz National Park need to be researched because the snow level in the peak of Mount Jayawijaya has been depleting, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

WWF director Sahul Augustininus Rumansara said in Jayapura, the capital city of Irian Jaya, on Tuesday the fact that the snow in the Cartentz was melting must raise everyone's concerns. The causes for the melting of the snow in the Cartentz have not been known, whether it is caused by global warming or by local warming due to Freeport's mining activities.

Rumansara called on all related parties to pay serious attention to the snow melting in the Cartentz. "Don't wait until it is destroyed totally, and only then we will try to find the causes."

The head of the Irian Jaya tourism office, Abner Kambuaya, added that the impacts of Freeport's mining activities, including the shocks the company causes, the digging of mining pits and the piling of its waste all need to be researched.

He called on the establishment of an independent team to investigate all those aspects of Freeport's mining activities and their impacts on the snow level at the Cartentz. The team must most of all be independent from Freeport. (*)