Newmont must report impact of dumping site every three months

PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), which operates a massive gold mine in Batu Hijau, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province should report the impact of its marine dumping site to the local office of environmental impact management agency (Bapedal) every three months.

Djafar Suryadi, the head of the local office of the agency, said in Mataram on Friday that the routine reports were needed to detect as early as possible the negative impact of the dumping site to the environment.

"Newmont must be honest about its finding, if not it will face problem in the future," he said, adding that the company could not hide the negative side of its dumping site because sooner or later, the people will know what really happens.

Djafar acknowledged that his office could not carry out the inspection job directly due to limitation not only in funding but also in technology. But despite such a shortage, he is optimistic that the gold mine operator would cheat the people with the result of its own inspection.

Newmont Nusa Tenggara is one of two subsidiaries of the United States-based Newmont Corporation. The other mining unit, PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in North Sulawesi is also facing a similar problem. The local communities and environmental activists have demanded the government to close its marine dumping site due to pollution problem. (*)