Result of Walhi's survey at Newmont's dumping ground doubted
Thursday, February 8 2001 - 04:30 AM WIB
Surna Tjahya Djajadiningrat, former director general of mining at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said he doubted the validity of the survey carried by Indonesian environmental organization Walhi at the dumping ground of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in the Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi.
The former director general said he believed that the sample and parameters used by Walhi in conducting the survey were inaccurate.
"Without lessening my respect to Walhi, I doubt the validity of its survey," he told Petromindo after the appointment of several first echelon officials at the ministry.
Walhi said that it had found hazardous substances including mercury at the Buyat Bay, where Newmont dumped its mineral waste or more popularly called tailings. The environmental organization called on the government for the closure of the dumping site to protect the life of the people living nearby.
Surna said that his office had carried out a number of discussions with Walhi regarding the survey and had also received information from Newmont Minahasa, a subsidiary of the United States-based Newmont Corporation.
"The findings of Walhi and those of Newmont are quite different and they seemed contradictory," he said. According to him, to ensure whether a mining operation has brought a negative impact on the environment is not really difficult as long as the surveyor uses an accurate method.
"The problem is only about the interest. "The survey is often conducted for the interest of the surveyor not for the truth. This why, the result of an environmental survey often causes a controversy," he added.
Surna said that a survey should be ideally carried by a joint team or a private consultant to ensure that the survey is carried accurately. But he said employing a joint team in a survey is some time not effective because a member of the team often withdraws at the half-way of the survey.
Surna who has been appointed as the head of the research and development of mineral resources at the ministry following the dissolution of his department following the implementation of the autonomy law. (*)