Many thanks and congratulations to everyone who sent messages and letters to the government of Indonesia on behalf of communities affected by Newmont's Minahasa Raya gold mine.
This week, the Minister of the Environment announced he has asked a court to order Newmont Mining Company to pay for environmental damages and the sufferings of villagers affected by pollution from the mine. two news reports from Indonesia below. And celebrate this victory for corporate accountability!
Government to seek financial compensation from Newmont
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Convinced that mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) is guilty of polluting Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi, the government aims to seek financial compensation from the U.S.-based firm.
State Minister of the Environment Rahmat Nadi Witoelar said on Monday that his office had prepared a civil lawsuit against PT NMR and had written to the Attorney General's Office, asking that it serve as legal counsel in the case.
"The letter was sent to the Attorney General's Office prior to the tsunami in Aceh. In the letter, we ask the office to provide legal counsel," Rahmat told reporters after meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the State Palace.
He was confident that the court would find PT NMR guilty of polluting the environment and order it to pay damages to the state.
Rahmat, however, declined to state the amount of financial compensation sought by the government. "It is confidential," he said, adding that the compensation, if granted, would be allocated to restore the environment in Buyat and relocate its residents from the affected areas.
The government will also press criminal charges against the mining company, he said. "All will generate a deterrent effect toward breaking environmental laws," he said.
In December last year, a government-sanctioned joint team said in its official report that PT NMR was guilty of contaminating Buyat BayÂ
It said that the giant mining company failed to effectively monitor the detoxification process of its tailings before they were dumped into the bay, resulting in high levels of metal substances there.
The joint team's report states that levels of arsenic and mercury in the bay's seabed were 666 mg/kg and over 1.51 mg/kg respectively, far exceeding the maximum standards set in the 2004 Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) marine water quality criteria of 300 mg/kg and 0.4 mg/kg of sediment.
Earlier in December, a number of residents claiming to represent Buyat residents filed a US3 million civil lawsuit against PT NMR for allegedly causing diseases.
However, some of the residents withdrew the suit, saying there was no evidence to suggest that tailings from the mining company were the cause of a variety of sicknesses that some villagers initially claimed was Minamata disease.
Police have declared six Newmont employees, including president director Richard Ness, suspects in the pollution case.
The first trial for the criminal case on pollution is expected to start later this month at the Manado District Court in North Sulawesi.
The trial will be presided over by judges well-versed in environmental laws.
Indonesia to Ask Court to Order Newmont to Pay Pollution Damage
Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Indonesia will ask a court to issue an order requiring Newmont Mining Corp., the world's biggest gold producer, to pay damages over alleged pollution off Sulawesi island, Indonesian Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar told reporters,
``We will make careful calculations on how much Newmont should pay,'' said Witoelar in Jakarta. ``There has been damage in the environment and sufferings among the villagers.''
Witoelar didn't say when or where the order will be issued. The suit will be considered as a `civil' suit with which the government is asking for a monetary damage claim, he said. The government is also filing a separate suit seeking criminal punishments against Newmont, Witoelar said.
Newmont has repeatedly denied the charges and says any contamination didn't come from its operations.
The Indonesian government said dumping of waste from Newmont's Minahasa mine in North Sulawesi province caused arsenic levels in a nearby seabed to rise to 10 times the levels allowed in the U.S. Higher-than-normal levels of mercury were also found.
``We hold on to the fact that there is no pollution there,'' said Palmer Situmorang, a lawyer for the U.S. miner said. ``A number of independent investigations tell that victims of arsenic and mercury poisoning are never found.''
Villagers near Newmont's Minahasa mine complained to police last year that they suffered health problems after eating fish from Buyat Bay, where the company dumped waste. The mine closed in August after gold reserves were depleted. It started operation in March 1996 with an investment of 5 million.
