Government suspects foul play behind Buyat case

State Minister of Environment Nabiel Makarim said that he suspected that the high publicized campaign against the operation of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya's undersea tailing dumping ground had been engineered by certain parties with a certain agenda, Tempo Newsroom reported on Tuesday.

The minister made his statement after finding out that one of the people who claimed to have suffered serious skin disease problem due to the impact of the tailing disposal had actually lied to the public.

Juriah, one of the victims who had been taken to a Jakarta hospital for treatment said in a national television network that she had suffered a serious pain when she gave birth to her daughter Srifika due to a swollen in her skin.

"(But) According to villagers, she was lying because Srifika is her adopted child," the minister said.

The Buyat case had been widely publicized by the local printing and electronic media following the finding of strange diseases in the Buyat village. NGOs said that NMR's toxic waste materials had polluted the local environment and the Buyat Bay water which in turn caused the disease. But the government said that based on a survey, the level of dangerous substances was still far below the maximum level set by the World Health Organization. (*)