Newmont's disposal area operates without any license

PT Newmont Minahasa Raya has operated a submarine waste disposal area in the Buyat bay, near its gold mine area in North Sulawesi for years without any license from the government, a witness told a court, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Monday.

"The office of the state minister for environment has never issued any license for the operation of Newmont Minahasa's waste disposal area in the Buyat bay," Masnellyarti Hilman told the Manado court last week. According to him, the president director of Newmont Minahasa had once applied for the license. But the application had been rejected.

Masnellyarti was testifying before the court as a witness in relation with the trial of the company's executives for allegedly involved in the alleged pollution caused by the company's waste disposal area at the Buyat bay.

The South Jakarta court dropped last year a civil suit filed by the state minister for environmental affairs against the North Sulawesi-based Newmont Minahasa Raya, saying the case should be taken to international arbitration.

The government filed a US$133.6 million civil suit against Newmont last year, accusing the company of causing pollution in its gold mining site in Minahasa,

North Sulawesi. But the South Jakarta court's verdict did not affect the ongoing criminal trial of the company's top executive in North Sulawesi on charges stemming from the same allegation. (*)