Govt allows Freeport to dump overburden to Wanagon
Thursday, September 7 2000 - 07:00 AM WIB
The government has permitted PT Freeport Indonesia, which operates a huge copper and gold mine in the Grasberg area in Irian Jaya, to dump again its overburden into nearby Lake Wanagon after closing the lake for several months following a landslide accident.
Director general of general mining at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Surna Tjahja Djajadiningrat told reporters on Wednesday the permit was given to enable the company to fix some splits in the lake.
"Actually, the government still bars the company from dumping its overburden into the lake. However, the government has allowed it to do so because there are splits in the lake and the splits can be fixed by filling them with overburden.
The company is however not allowed to dump more than 2.5 million tons of overburden (per day)," Surna said on the sidelines of the ceremony to award mining contracts to several foreign and local investors.
Surna said if the splits were not filled with overburden, the government was afraid of possible landslide in the lake.
Freeport has long used the lake as the dumpsite for its overburden, but the government ordered it to stop dumping its overburden to the lake following a landslide in May this year, which led to the death and disappearance of several workers.
Freeport has complained that it was facing difficulties to find an alternative dumpsite for its overburden. (godang)