Newmont Minahasa Must Reclaim Ex-Mining Area

TEMPO Interactive, Karang Asem, Bali:Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro has requested PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) to immediately reclaim its mining area after mining activities have ended. We have requested Newmont do this from the beginning. Newmont must reclaim the area where it had previously conducted its mining activities so that the areas will not be neglected or turn into a ghost city, Yusgiantoro told reporters in between the meeting of International Oil and Gas Investors in Karangasem, Bali, on Tuesday night (31/08). Yusgiantoro gave Newmont a period of three to four years to reclaim the ex-mining area. He said he could not hope that PT Newmont Minahasa Raya would be able to return the mining area in Buyat Bay to its original condition. Although the condition might not return into the normal one, we hope that the ex-mining location could be used for other purposes, he stated. Yusgiantoro said that the mining process of PT NMR actually ended in 2001. However, the company continued its operations until last August as it still has mining stocks and supplies. The company plans to settle all process of its stocks by early October 2004. So, Newmont has stopped its activities not because of the Buyat case. The mining process is scheduled to end by this year. And the reclamation process of the mining area has been planned before this, Yusgiantoro stated. However, Yusgiantoro declined to comment on the governments plan to prevent the Buyat case from happening again. According to him, he has to wait for the investigation result from the political, security and peoples welfare ministers coordination meeting. He added that the government has decided to establish a joint team consisting of government officials, the Anti-Mining Network, former State Minister for Environment Emil Salim, environmental expert Otto Sumarwoto and the Indonesian Ministry of Health in investigating this case. They will discuss this matter in deciding whether or not the mining of PT Newmont caused the pollution in Buyat or not. The government will amake decision after that, Yusgiantoro stated. (Raden Rachmadi - Tempo News Room)