North Maluku Community protest to reject Newcrest

Today, the residents of North Halmahera regency are holding a province-wide coordinated protest involving the largest ever number of protestors, from a wide crosssection of society and with several protest locations. This follows a two-month long surge in direct opposition against Newcrest’s operations since 21 May 2004, when hundreds of local people and their supporters reoccupied the Toguraci protected forest, reclaiming their lands from Newcrest’s PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals, with the primary demand that Newcrest leave Toguraci and Halmahera.

Today’s action is taking place in three locations:

Ternate (capital of Nth Maluku province) with mass demonstration and speeches at the offices of the Govenor, Radio Indonesia and at Police headquarters;

At Tobelo (Capital of Nth Halmahera Regency) with deomonstrations at the Regent’s office and the Regency House of Representatives office; and

At Toguraci / Gosowong mine site, with a demonstration at the company’s front gate.

The actions at Tobelo and Toguraci are coordinated by the Forum Kepala Desa Se-Teluk Kao (Kao Bay Village Leaders’ Forum) which is a forum comprised of 67 villages throughout the Nth Halmahera and West Halmahhera Regencies, together with Student Council of Padamara University, Tobelo. Meanwhile the action in Ternate city is coordinated by Indonesian Islam Student’s Movement (PMII) together with other student organisations, and Non-Government Organisations in Nth Maluku.

The agreed demands of the protestors, developed by the (Kao Bay Village Leaders’ Forum) are:
(1) Newcrest / PT NHM must immediately leave North Maluku, and is responsible for rehabilitation and restoration of the environment and the local economy which has been suffering since the company began operations;
(2) An end to the intimidation and violence actions of the state aparatus against people exercising their legitimate rights protest against Newcrest / PT NHM;
(3) The government stop taking the side of this mining company which only creates environmental damage and violates human rights;
(4) Fulfil all the old promises to contribute to the prosperity of Nth Halmahera (including paying compensation to almost 200 local workers who were sacked from 2000-2003, and provide a fair sum of community development funds);
(5) Oppose the implementation of Government Decree 1/2004 (see details below).
The action is planned to continue until the community demands are fulfilled.

The Newcrest case has been in the public eye since the repressive treatment of 200 protestors and the shooting of Rusli Tungkapi, 30 yrs, by BRIMOB paramilitary police on Newcrest’s mine lease on 7 January. Newcrest was among 13 mostly foreign mining companies listed in recent Presidential and Government decrees, subsequently endorsed in a close vote by Parliament on 15 July 2004. The decrees give the 13 companies permission to mine in protected forests, a general right they actually already had, however it failed to remove legal uncertainty for these companies because the specific ban on open-pit mining in protected forests contained in the Forestry law 1999 as amended in 2004, still remains in force.

Allegations of Parliamentary Corruption in endorsement of Decree 1/2004
A group of Parliamentarians from the cross-party Parliamentary Anticorruption Caucus held a press conference on 23rd July, led by legislator H. Bambang Setyo, to reveal that they were among those who were offered payments of between Rp 50 million (AUD $8000) to Rp 150 million to endorse the pro-mining-in-forests decree. Parliament only narrowly passed the amendment to the Forestry Act contained in the Decree, which was opposed by 5 out of 8 partliamentary factions. Members of Golkar and PPP unexpectedly changed their position on the morning of the vote despite committee deliberations over the past months in which only President Megawati’s party planned to endorse the Decree.

Contacts:
Ternate & Tobelo (Maluku) – YAHYA MACHMUD: 0813-40132336/0813-40012910

Jakarta – Siti Maimunah (Jaringan Advokasi Tambang/JATAM) 0811-920462;

Erwin Usman (WALHI) 0815-8036003; Abusaid Pelu (KONTRAS Jakarta) 0812-8872060