Newmont upbeat latest investigation will support its claim

The management of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya is upbeat that the conclusion of the investigation carried out by an inter-agency team on the alleged pollution caused by undersea tailings ground in Buyat bay, North Sulawesi would be in line with the result of the studies made by the World Health Organization and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organization of Australia (SCIRO).

Kasan Mulyono, Newmont's external relations manager, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the management would not speculate about the result of the investigation of the inter-agency team which would be announced today (Wednesday) but he believed that the conclusions would support the company's claim that there was no pollution in the Buyat bay.

Non-governmental agencies such as Walhi and Jatam hoped that the conclusions of the investigation the team comprising not only governmental but also non-governmental agencies could provide more reliable information on the state of the pollution on the Buyat bay.

According to Walhi and Jatam, the result of the studies made by CSIRO and WHO recently announced by Newmont to the public could mislead the public because it was carried out only to detect if the people living near the Buyat bay were suffering Minamata disease.

Ksan said that based on the studies made by WHO and CSIRO, there was no pollution either on Buyat or Totok Bay. (*)