Protests continue, Newmont stops operation
Wednesday, June 28 2000 - 04:15 AM WIB
Local residents continue blocking the access road leading to the gold mining operation of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in the Ratatotok district of the Minahasa regency in North Sulawesi as the United States-based mining operator refused to meet their demand, Manado Post reported on Wednesday.
The residents, the former land owner of the company's mining sites refused to end the road blockade after the company's executives refused to negotiate with the protesters directly. "We want the company to talk directly with us. It only wants to negotiate with our representatives and we refused it," one of the resident said.
The protests, which started early last week, has been escalating, as the company gave no indications that it would settle the dispute. The road blockade, which started on Monday, has forced the company to stop operation, causing a potential loss of at least 20 kilogram of gold per day.
The villagers demanded the company to give a fair compensation for the land included in the mining company's gold mining area. They said that the company paid them Rp 2,500 per square meter as the compensation for the land before the company started its exploration activities 14 years ago.
The villagers said that they were forced to accept the payment a long time ago out of fears that the government would punish them if they refused.
After the fall of the authoritarian leader former president Soeharto from power two years ago and the rebirth of the democracy in the country has encouraged distressed villagers all over the country to voice their demand. The villagers in the Ratatotok is no exception. They also demanded the additional compensation payment from the local company.
The massive Ratatotok mine concession operated by Newmont Minahasa in the province is one of the Newmont mine operations in Indonesia. The company also operates a large mining site in Batuhijau, West Nusatenggara (NTB) province, which began its commercial production early this year.
Newmont Minahasa, which was taken to court by the local government few months ago for not paying local tax has been bombarded with protests in the last several months. The legal suit was dropped after the company agreed to pay the tax. But the tax payment did not really help as many more protests from the local communities emerged after that.
Besides demanding additional compensation payment, the local residents also protested the company's submarine waste disposal system in the Buyat Bay for allegedly causing pollution. (*)