Press Release by JATAM (Indonesian Mining Advocacy Network) and WALHI
(FoE
Indonesia), 23 October 2008
Stop destroying our protected forests and small islands
On 23rd October 2008, BHP Billiton will hold its shareholder meeting in
England. In Indonesia, the company is turning a protected forest in
Central Kalimantan into a coal mine. It is also going to devastate Gag
Island, Papua, by mining nickel and dumping tailings in the sea – a sea
which contains the richest biodiversity in the world. This is bound to
make BHP Billiton shareholders feel ashamed.
Gag Island, in Papua, covers an area of just 9,200 hectares, lying in
the
Raja Ampat Island cluster, which is
known to host the highest level of
marine biodiversity in the world. Four hundred and fifty types of coral,
950 types of reef fish and more than 600 species of molluscs of various
size can be found here. Two years ago the area was proposed as a World
Heritage Site.
Gag Island also contains one of the world’s biggest laterite nickel
deposits. In 1998 BHP Billiton signed a contract of work with the
repressive Suharto regime to acquire the nickel deposit in a joint
venture
with PT Antam Indonesia. The companies established PT Gag Nikel, with a
concession covering the whole island and the surrounding waters. The
company will develop an open-pit mine, excavating 660,000 tonnes of ore
per day and dumping 627,000 tonnes of tailings into the sea. Gag Island
could well disappear.
Despite its status as a protected forest, with soil extremely prone to
erosion, PT Gag Nikel is pressing ahead with a
mine. The island’s
topography is also susceptible to landslides, because 27% of the land
consists of steep slopes and rainfall is quite high. It is certain that
the corals and other marine biodiversity will end up being destroyed by
sedimentation.
PT Gag Nikel’s contract was signed without any agreement whatsoever from
local people. From 1999 to 2004 BHP Billiton along with other
multinational mining companies, put pressure on the Indonesian
government
to change Forestry Law No 41, 1999, which prohibits open-pit mining in
protected forests. The companies’ move led to public protests across the
country. At the time, the company even threatened to take the Indonesian
government to international arbitration if it prevented open-pit mining
from going ahead on Gag. In the end, the pressure worked and in 2004, a
new law was issued which permitted PT Gag, among others, to go ahead
with
open-pit
mining.
Tension in the area has increased since PT Gag Nikel appeared. On April
24th this year, for example, local people blockaded the door of the
company’s office in Sorong. Given that West Papua is a region of
conflict
and military brutality, people fear that PT Nikel will worsen human
rights
conditions there.
In another part of Indonesia, in Central Kalimantan, BHP Billiton’s coal
mine is changing the nature of 65,858 hectares of protected forest,
which
cover the upper reaches of the area’s main rivers. The coal is being
sent
to generate electricity, creating greenhouse gas emissions and
contributing to global warming.
At the upcoming shareholders meeting, this morning at 10.30am local time
in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, England, JATAM
and WALHI are demanding that BHP Billiton stop these mining projects.
Stop
destroying protected forests and
small Islands in Indonesia, both in
Central Kalimantan and West Papua, and in other parts of the world.
Also,
we ask shareholders to stop profiting from this destruction and bad
governance.
Sibuyan community statement
No to BHP Billiton!
Early October, the Taclobo (San Fernando, Sibuyan Island, Romblon)
village
chief received notices of small-scale mining applications (July 9, 2008)
of two previous holders of small-scale mining permits (SSMP) which
expired
in May 2008.
All Acacia Resources Inc. (AARI) is applying for another 20 hectares for
utilisation of nickel ores and SunPacific Resources Philippines Inc.
(SRPI) for another 15.58 hectares. They seek for another two-year permit
from the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) of the province of
Romblon.
We strongly oppose the application for small-scale mining permit of
SunPacific Resources Philippines Inc.
(SRPI) and All-Acacia Resources
Inc., (AARI) stockholders of mining conglomerate Sibuyan Nickel
Properties
Development Corp. (SNPDC), venture partner of Pelican Resources Ltd
(ASX-PEL) of Australia. SNPDC has a Memorandum of Agreement with QNI
Philippines (QNPH), as agent for Queensland Nickel Pty. Ltd. (QNPL)
acting
for and on behalf of the joint venture participants of QNPL Resources
Pty.
Ltd. and QNPL Metals Pty. Ltd., which are subsidiaries of the global
mining giant BHP Billiton. SNPDC further has a Memorandum of
Understanding
(MOU) with Altai Philippines Mining Corp (APMC), which is connected to
Altai Resources Inc (TSX-ATI) of Canada.
The agreement grants BHP Billiton or its related entity the exclusive
rights to purchase laterite nickel ore mined by SNPDC. BHP Billiton in
return shall finance the exploration and drilling evaluation upon the
issuance of Mineral Productions Sharing Agreement (MPSA) permit
by the
Philippine Government. The total cost of financing is $250,000.
Both AARI and SRPI (with Mabuhay Gold Project in Mindanao) are
partners of
Pelican Resources Ltd.
“Because MPSA and Exploration Permit cannot be issued quickly, SNPDC
tries
to use SSMP to access the areas as they did before. These small-scale
mining applications show the aggressive push for the financed further
exploration and drilling of BHP Billiton” opines Rodne Galicha,
Executive
Director of Sibuyan Island Sentinels League for Environment Inc.
(Sibuyan
ISLE).
“BHP Billiton through its subsidiaries and partners can be described
as an
island-swallowing Godzilla”, says Taclobo village resident Lando Tan, a
former Kabang Kalikasan ng Pilipinas-World Wildlife Fund (KKP-WWF)
staff.
Late last year, the chief security officer of SNPDC shot to death a
newly-elected councillor, Hon. Armin Rios-Marin, during a picket
against
mining.
The ice-age Sibuyan Island, dubbed as Galapagos of Asia, is where the
world’s densest forest flourishes, the Philippines’cleanest inland
body
of water flows, and the majestic Mt. Guiting-guiting dwells.
Rodne R. Galicha
Sibuyan Island Sentinels League for Environment, Inc. (Sibuyan ISLE)
Website: www.sibuyan.com
