U.S. should not use double standards in Buyat pollution case: NGO

Indonesia's Legal Aid Counsel for Health (LBHK) has expressed hope that the United States government will not apply double standards over the alleged pollution of Indonesia's Buyat Bay by American-run mining company Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR), the Antara news agency reported on Monday.

"We question the U.S. government's commitment when it said it would not interfere with the Indonesian police's investigation of the Buyat case," LBHK founder, Iskandar Sitorus, said here on Monday.

Iskandar was referring to a recent statement issued by the U.S. embassy here, expressing regret over the detention of six NMR employees linked to the case.

Indonesian police have arrested three American executives -- NMR president Richard Ness, product and maintenance manager Phil Turner, and site manager William Long -- and three local staff members over the pollution case.

Iskandar said LBHK also suspects that NMR's mother company, Newmont Mining Corp in Denver, Colorado, is planning to bribe the local people to revoke their lawsuit.

On the suspension of Ness' detention due to health reasons, he said the police should bring him to the police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, for a check-up.

"If it is proven that Ness is sick, please (suspend his detention)," he said.

Ness was questioned by the police on Thursday and Friday but was not detained for an illness.

The six are likely to be charged with violating the law on the environment, which carries a 10-year jail term, 15 years if it causes harm to humans, said Iskandar.

The police's forensic laboratory has found that Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi province is polluted with heavy metals in excess of the safety levels set by the office of the state minister for the environment.

NMR has repeatedly challenged the report, saying that at least three laboratories concur that the bay is not polluted because its heavy metal content is far less than the limits set by the government. (*)