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Locals Blockade Newcrest Mine In Indonesia
Media Release: 2 November 2003
Halmahera, Indonesia
Over two thousands local indigenous people have occupied and halted work at Newcrest Mining’s new Toguraci mine site in North Maluku, Indonesia., demanding compensations and a share in benefits from Newcrest’s previous gold mining since 1999. The protestors include woman, children and the vast majority are local people and members of local tribes of Pagu, Madole, Boing and Towiliko Kao.
Newcrest has requested security force (on-sites security includes the Indonesian military, whose wages are paid by Newcrest) to remove the protestors, describing them as “Illegal miners’ originating from elsewhere in Indonesia, and further claimed they have threatened violence against company staff. When interviewed on-site yesterday by The Mineral Policy Institute, the claims were vehemently denied by the protest’s indigenous leaders.
“Our peaceful demonstration is sponsored by the Pagu Tribal Association. Each of 2,660 people have registered their name and villages, and agreed to not use violence or damage company property” explained Jhon Djinimangale, of the Soa Boing tribe. “The company is just trying to discredit our protest and have us evicted.”
Legality of forest clearing undertaken by Newcrest is in doubt due to legal prohibitions preventing open cut mining from proceeding in protected forests. Despite these prohibitions, several months ago Newcrest went ahead and clear-felled the heavily forested Toguraci project area, then stripped the site to bare earth. While mining of the Toguraci gold deposit has been prohibited by the Indonesian Forestry Law (1999) that prohibits open cut mining in conservation zones including the Toguraci Protected Forest, the Indonesian government, pressured by companies including Newcrest, has been considering overturning the ban. No decision has yet been made.
Techa Beaumont of the Mineral Policy Instiute stated: “Newcrest’s treatment of the local indigenous people is completely unacceptable in light of current standards for community consultation, and ignores the rights of these Indigenous people in relation to their land and resources. It is disturbing that a company would rather resort to ordering military forces to remove locals rather than entering into fair and good faith negotiations with them over their claims.
“We won’t leave here until the company (Newcrest) provides benefits to the community relative to the damage they’ve already caused, and the profits they’ve made from our gold at Gosowong. And they can’t begin to mine at Toguraci until they reach an agreement through direct negotiations with us,” concluded Mr. Djinimangele.
Media contacts : Eton Duan, Tobelo, Halmahera, North Maluku: +62 924-21572 George Corputty, Humanum Foundation, Ambon, Maluku, +62 911-35621 Techa Beaumont, Mineral Policy Institute, Australia +61 2 9557 9079
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: LOCALS BLOCKADE NEWCREST MINE IN INDONESIA
Newcrest failure to negotiate leads to direct action Timeline :
June 2003 (date unknown): Newcrest clears the new Toguraci mine site before reaching agreement on outstanding compensation demands re the Gosowong pit, and without proper consultation with indigenous community in the local Kao and Malifut districts.
31 June and 18 July 2003: Community issues statements of demand. They were ignored by Newcrest, who refused to attend requested meetings.
August 2003: Newcrest invited to 3-way meeting with reps of local community and government of North Maluku, in Ternate. Newcrest failed to attend and the meeting produced no results.
22 September 2003: 3-way meeting (community-company, govt) in Ternate, 3 hours travel from mine site. No agreement was reached, and no dates for further meetings established.
24 October 2003 - ongoing: Mass occupation by 2,660 people. Local people commence collecting and selling gold ore to support their protest occupation while they await a fair resolution of their claims by Newcrest.
Notes: · Copies are available of the community demands of 31 June and 18 July 2003, which allege breaches of law by Newcrest mining and demand the Toguraci mine not proceed. · The Indonesian Forestry law (1999) prohibits open cut mining in areas such as the Toguraci protected forest, also affecting several other planned Australian-owned mining projects. The ban is currently the subject of a struggle between environmentalists and miners, and in earlier this year Indonesian students protested at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, angry that the Australian government has been aggressively lobbying to overturn Indonesia environmental protection so that Australian companies such as Newcrest, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto can mine in protected forests. Further information is available at http://www.walhi.or.id/English/Press%20Room/index.htm and www.jatam,.org · The name of Newcrest’s mining company in Halmahera is PT. Nusa Halmahera Minerals
For more information, please contact:
Igor O'Neill
Workphone: +62 21 794 1672
Mobile: +62 81 286 12 286
Created: 11 Nov 2003 | Last updated: 11 Nov 2003
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