Govt calls for Meares Soputan Mining to halt operations

The government has asked PT Meares Soputan Mining (MSM) which operates in North Sulawesi to stop its operation due to the lack of licenses for its submarine tailing disposal, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Monday.

State Minister for Environmental Affairs Rachmat Witoelar said that his office would not issue a permit for its environmental impact analyses (Amdal) for Meares because the North Sulawesi administration had yet to issue the recommendation for the company.

"We are still waiting for recommendation from North Sulawesi administration," he said last week, adding that if the provincial administration did not provide the recommendation, it would not issue the required permit.

Meanwhile North Sulawesi governor Sinyo Harry Sarundajang said that the people's resentment against the company was so strong. "We will back the people and No to Meares," he added.

General Manager and director of the company Peter Brown said that he was sure the government would allow it to continue its operation despite the people's resentment against the company's mining activities.

MSM is a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange-listed mining firm Archipelago Resources.(*)