Govt supports plan to develop gold mine in C. Sulawesi

Ministry of Forestry will support the development of a gold mine in Poboya forest conservation area in Palu, Central Sulawesi if local residents do not oppose the plan, Antara news agency reported on Thursday.

"Basically Minister of Forestry Marzuki Usman agrees with the development of a gold mine in the forest conservation area as long as the residents especially those living near the park do not oppose the plan," the head of the Central Sulawesi forestry office, Idris Makka, told the news agency in Palu on Wednesday.

He, however, said that if the local residents opposed the plan, it would be difficult for PT Citra Palu Minerals (CPM) to go ahead with its plan to open the gold mine in the park although it had already secured a permit from the central government.

CPM, a 90 percent subsidiary of Anglo Australian mining giant Rio Tinto obtained a contract of works to open a gold mine in the conservation area in 1997 but it could not carried out its plan due to resentment from the locals.

According to Rio Tinto's spokesperson Nunik Maulana, the company has signed a preliminary agreement to sell its entire stake in CPM with Australian gold mining company Newcrest Limited.

Meanwhile, Central Sulawesi Governor Aminuddin Ponulele stressed recently that the local government would never approve the plan considering the serious impact it might cause to the environment.

"I am not against the development but the development of a gold mine in the forestry park should be prevented in effort to preserve the protected forests," he said. (*)