Villagers vow to fight 'till last drop of blood' over Indo Muro mining site
Wednesday, May 31 2000 - 04:15 AM WIB
Villagers occupying the gold mining site of PT Indo Muro Kencana (IMK) in the North Barito regency in Central Kalimantan province vow to fight the security officers planning to remove them out the site, according to a local activist.
Andreas N.J. Udang of the Resource Foundation (SDM, an non-governmental organization, said that the people was ready to fight "till the last drop of blood."
Andreas was quoted by the Kalteng Post daily in response to plans by the security officers to oust by force the villagers from the IMK mining site.
Central Kalimantan Governor Asmawi Agani said earlier this week that President Abdurrahman Wahid had issued a decree instructing the local administration to take the necessary action to resolve the problem at IMK's mining site.
Kalteng Post reported that policemen and some villagers paid by IMK had started to camp near the IMK's 47,000 ha mining site, waiting for the instruction to move to oust the land occupiers.
Villagers had occupied the mining site of IMK since the past several months claiming that the mining site belongs to the people, which was taken by force in the past by the mining company.
Kalteng Post said that the protesting villagers had equipped themselves with sharp weapons to protect their rights. The paper said that other villagers had flee the area fearing of the possible bloodshed.
Meanwhile, Andreas said that he planned to file a legal suit against IMK and the government at the South Jakarta Court and to demand the government to drop the mining contract of IMK. He said that the mining site of IMK belongs to the people.(*)