Govt asked to delay Newmont inauguration

The Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM) has asked the government to delay the inauguration of the gold mine of PT Newmont Nusatenggara (NTT) in Batuhijau, West Nusatenggara Barat (NTB) province, BRD correspondent in Mataram reported on Wednesday.

The organization said that the government should delay the inauguration of the gold mine until the company settled the environmental problem resulted from the company's exploration and waste disposal operations.

"If the government goes with the inauguration, if means that it tolerates the destruction of the environment by mining companies," said Chalid Muhammad, the coordinator of the advocacy network.

The gold mine, which will be inaugurated by Mines and Energy Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyuno on Saturday, started its commercial production in January and has employed about 3,000 workers mostly recruited from the villages near the mining sites.

The company has also paid royalties of more than Rp 23 billion (US$1=Rp 8,500) to the government from its gold production made between January and April. But the local non-governmental organizations criticized the company's operations.

The NGOs accused the company of damaging the environment and warned that the environmental damages would, in the long run, not only harm the environments but also threaten the lives of the people living near the mining site.

According to the NGOs, the company's marine waste disposal system located in the nearby sea has already caused a heavy pollution in the sea. They said the company's dam to process the mineral waste resulted from the exploration activities also lacked safety and often leaked, polluting the local rivers with toxic substances. (*)