Villagers planning to sue Newcrest
Thursday, May 18 2006 - 12:20 AM WIB
Newcrest operates two controversial gold mines on remote Halmahera island, in the Molucca chain, and has clashed with local people and environmental groups amid accusations of heavy-handed security tactics.
In 2004, one protester was shot and killed near the gates of the $US100 million Toguraci mine during a demonstration over operations in protected forest areas.
Kao villagers said they now planned to sue Newcrest.
They claim the company had violated an agreement struck in 1997 with local people and joint-venture partner PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals, which owns a small share in the mine.
"We have many times warned them to do what's been agreed with Kao traditional society, but they never pay attention," local elder Ahmad Arifin told Waspada online from the North Maluku capital Ternate.
"They are ignorant."
In Melbourne, a spokesman for Newcrest said the company and senior mine managers on Halmahera were unaware of the looming legal case.
Newcrest was plagued by intermittent protests at the Toguraci site, with local people variously occupying the mine for five weeks in 2003 and staging blockades in 2004.
Villagers accused the mine of operating illegally in a protected forest area until the former government of then President Megawati Sukarnoputri changed the law in 2004.
Activists have previously demanded Newcrest distribute Rp500 billion in profits from its nearby Gosowong mine, while spending 10 per cent of future profits from Toguraci site on local community projects.
Arifin said the legal case against Newcrest was still being prepared and refused to divulge the details of claims.
He denied the villagers were against development, but said international investors should lead to an improvement in the lives of local people.
"If their presence only brings problems, then we will refuse it," he said.(*)