Newmont supports health ministry's finding on Buyat residents

Skin diseases and a number of health problems suffered by residents in the Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi have no connection with the heavy metal allegedly found in the water around PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR)'s submarine tailing ground in the bay, according to a survey conducted by the ministry of health.

NMR's management strongly supported the result of the survey, saying that the study would help ease the Buyat residents' fear that the water around the Buyat bay had caused health problem.

"Now we should find out what we can do to help them find why they are ill," Newmont's spokesman Rubi Purnomo was quoted as saying by Neraca.

A team comprising of medical experts from the health ministry ended recently a three-month survey on the health of the Buyat residents. The team, which took samples from 222 residents, found that the diseases suffered by the residents were not caused by arsenic or mercury which had allegedly polluted the water in the Buyat bay.

An independent investigation team comprising of government officials, mining experts and non-government organizations concluded last year that the sea area near Newmont's submarine tailing ground, had been polluted with hazardous metal such as arsenic.

The ministry of environment is currently suing the company over the alleged pollution it had caused in the Buyat bay. (*)