Deaths lead to call for halt in investments

Friday, 30 December 2011 00:00

Written by theaustralian.com

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MINING: A leading Indonesian environment campaigner yesterday called on the Gillard government to request Australian mining companies to postpone investments in Indonesia, following the deaths of three people protesting against field work by Sydney-based Arc Exploration.

Teguh Surya, campaign manager of Walhi, the Indonesian branch of Friends of the Earth, told The Australian from Jakarta the Indonesian government should also revoke the exploration permit granted to Arc by the Mining Ministry and the local government or kabupaten.

"The Australian government should take some responsibility for the situation because the company involved is Australian," Mr Teguh said.

He added that the protests, which began a year ago, were the result of the failure of the authorities to ensure that the community at Bima on the eastern tip of Sumbawa island, where Arc Exploration is starting to explore for gold, was adequately consulted.

"Of the 400 Australian mining companies involved in Indonesia, at least 10 have caused serious problems for many, many years."

As a result, he said, two years ago Walhi sent Kevin Rudd a letter asking his government to investigate Australian mining investments there and met diplomats at the embassy in Jakarta to reinforce the group's concern."But we have had no response to this day," he said.

On January 10, an Indonesian coalition of non-government organisations is planning a demonstration in front of the presidential palace to protest against the police shootings on Sumbawa, and to call for Arc Exploration's permit to be revoked, Mr Teguh said. On Wednesday, Arc Exploration announced via the Australian Securities Exchange that it was halting its activities at its project at Bima "until the situation is resolved".

The Bima villagers have been staying at home this week since the three people were shot by police on Christmas Eve, Mr Teguh said, "because the situation there is scary".

He said the villagers had blockaded the nearby port of Sape because they had failed to receive a positive response to their concerns about the potential harm to their farming livelihoods if a goldmine was built there.

"They wanted to get attention from government," he said. "But instead the government focused on stopping the protest and police shot at the people."

Following the police action that forced the reopening of the port, 47 people had been arrested, including six children who were detained with their mothers.

Mr Teguh said that Indonesia's human rights commissioner had visited the village at the centre of the exploration, when he was especially asked to ensure the children were released.

He said the villagers opposed to gold exploration had learned about the mining controversies on North Sulawesi, at Freeport in Papua province and in Kalimantan from the media and from Walhi's own education programs.

Mr Teguh said protesters had carried knives and other weapons to protect themselves when they saw the police arming themselves. "The situation in that area is like a war," he said.Arc's share price yesterday rose 11 per cent to 10c, with 3.3 million shares traded

Sumber : http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/deaths-lead-to-call-for-halt-in-investments/story-e6frg9df-1226232877099