Newmont?s presence also causes social gap

Besides promoting the income of many people, the presence of copper and gold mining company PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara has also caused a social gap particularly between locals and outsiders.

Zulkifli Muhadli, the chairman of Pesantren Al-Ihkhlas Taliwang, said in a seminar in Sumbawa Besar on Wednesday that the widening social gap could generate social conflicts between locals and outsiders who resided in the area either as mining workers or traders.

According to him the social gap could not be avoided because many locals, who previously worked as farmers could no longer carry out their farming activities because most of the farming areas had been switched into mining or industrial sites.(*)