Maluku government suspends Robust Resources gold project

Maluku Governor Said Assagaff has issued a decree suspending the gold mining operation of PT Gemala Borneo Utama (GBU), a local subsidiary of ASX-listed Robust Resources Ltd, on Romang Island, in Southwest Maluku Regency, Antara reported on Thursday.

Antara quoted Said as saying that the provincial administration can?t immediately shut down the mining operation of GBU as existing law requires that such action must be based on recommendation from the mining inspectorate office. He said that the mining inspector could not immediately visit Romang Island due to bad weather condition. But findings made by a team of the local Pattimura University (Unpatti) suggested of environmental destruction on Romang Island, which prompted the provincial administration to temporarily stop the GBU mining operation.

?According to report from the Unpatti team there has been gold mining exploitation activities on Romang Island including indication of environmental destruction, so the decision was to shut it down temporarily to anticipate unwanted incidents,? Said explained.

He added that that Romang Island mining issue has been discussed with Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya during her recent visit to Maluku. He said the minister suggested to close down the Romang Island mining operation despite the absence of recommendation form the mining inspectorate to avoid further environmental destruction. ?The minister gave direction to close down (the mine) as allowed under the Environmental Law, and does not require recommendation from the mining inspectorate. But I also consider other law in the mining sector, so it?s only a suspension pending the investigation result of the mining inspectorate,? he said.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (or better known as Kontras) reported GBU to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry last month as the company?s operations for 10 years on Romang Island has damaged the local environment and affected the livelihoods of the local people.

?A number of environmental impacts have been felt, such as declining (production of) forest honey, damage to nutmeg and cloves crops, as well as the disappearance of seaweed due to the mining practice,? said Haris Azhar, Kontras Coordinator, last month.

The ministry has also been requested to check on the validity of the GBU environmental documents issued by the Maluku provincial administration. Haris said that a requirement for local villagers? participation in the process to prepare the environmental documents had been neglected.

GBU, a subsidiary of Sydney-based Robust Resources Ltd, holds a concession in a forest area based on the forest area borrow and use permit issued by the Ministry of Forestry in 2012, but according to Kontras, the gold mining exploration activities had not been conducted in line with regulations. (*)