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> HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PROTEST FREEPORT GOLD
MINE IN INDONESIA
> > Human rights activists from the western half of the island of New > Guinea traveled to the United States and the Netherlands in May to > protest the impact of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold of New Orleans, > who operate the world's largest gold mine. The gold mine is situated > on the traditional lands of the Amungme peoples on the island, which > is in the province of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. > > The protests began with the company annual shareholders meeting, which > the company had moved from its traditional venue in New Orleans to > Wilmington, Delaware. Many United States companies are incorporated in > Delaware, because it is the state with the most corporate-friendly tax > laws. > > Rumors that the company had made the move to avoid adverse publicity > were compounded by the fact that none of the company's Board of > Directors attended, nor did the once flamboyant Chief Executive > Officer Jim Bob Moffett. > > However United States activists, shareholders from religous groups and > John Rumbiak, a human rights worker from Irian Jaya who works with the > Amungme, were present to raise concerns about Freeport's operations in > Indonesia. Rumbiak put the company on notice, saying, "My people are > fighting against you so that you can recognize our dignity as human > beings." Rumbiak said local villagers have sued Freeport because the > company won't deal with them properly. > > At exactly the same time that the annual meeting was held Yosepha > Alomang, a matriarch of the Amungme tribe on whose traditional lands > Freeport is digging for gold, was protesting outside Jim Bob Moffett's > mansion on St Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Alomang is also the > principal litigant in a lawsuit against Freeport in Louisiana State > Court. > > Also on the same day, but on the other side of the Atlantic, another > Amungme representative, Paulus Kanongopme, attended the annual > shareholders meeting of ABN Amro, a Dutch bank which is financing > Freeport. Kanongopme was protesting Grasberg's recent expansion from > dumping 120,000 tonnes of waste per day to 300,000 tons per day. "We > will do everything to stop Freeport's activities peacefully," he said. > > He pointed out that the area under control of the company in Irian > Jaya, known also as West Papua, is equivalent in size to the country > of Belgium but that much of it has been destroyed or negatively > impacted by mining, exploration and the in-migration that Freeport has > attracted to the region. "My people have been killed by ABN Amro's > investments," said Kanongopme. > > A top executive of ABN Amro, Mr Kalff, said he was "terribly shocked" > by the situation at the mine and that the "the environmental pollution > has gone too far. It should not be like that. Not only does the > pollution affect the environment, but it also causes victims amongst > the local community." He assured Paulus that ABN Amro would maintain > pressure on Freeport to conduct an independent environmental audit > later this year - something which non-governmental organizations have > been calling for for years. > > Ironically on May 23, internal company environmental documents were > submitted for the case pending in Louisiana State Court. One > particularly revealing Inter-Office Memo dating back to December 1993 > from the then Vice-President for environmental affairs, states that > Freeport executives knew then that "flotation reagents can be smelled > and are present to river in Banti", "dissolved copper concentrations > exceed fish toxicity levels", and "other potential problems at higher > production levels or if pH drops could be arsenic and aluminium". This > was when the resource throughput at the mine was just 32,000 tons per > day. (The amount of rock waste the company is now permitted to dump > has since grown ten-fold.) > > SOURCES: "We no longer think it is soft to talk about social issues", > Volkskrant, May 6th, 1999. "Gold mine in Irian Jaya shocks ABN Amro", > Trouw, May 7th, 1999. "? and the Mysterians", The Austin Chronicle, > May 14th, 1999; PT Freeport Indonesia Company, Inter-Office Memo, > December 3rd, 1993. |
