Dear DTE,
I was very interested to get your newsletter, and in particular to read your new news about Freeport's payments to the TNI in West Papua [DTE 68]. You may be interested to know that I was, so far as I know, the first person to reveal Freeport's payments to the Indonesian military in an article in the New Statesman, "Indonesia's next East Timor?" (10 July 2000). This was I think a year before the SEC condemned Freeport for making payments.
The irony for the West Papuans was obviously that not only were Freeport mining *their* resources, they were giving substantial sums to the Papuans' occupiers to do so. The journalistic irony for me was that nobody would believe the story to begin with, and I couldn't publish it that way round, only include a summary of what I'd found at the end of the article.
You may be interested to see the piece at www.newstatesman.com/200007100026. I'm shocked to see that Freeport are still getting away with it.
All good wishes
Julian Evans
julian@julianevans.com,
Bristol, UK
Dear DTE,
Regarding the feature "New mine will mean more marine pollution in Sulawesi" in the last DTE Newsletter [DTE 68]:
A.Testimonial for the World Bank Extractive Industries Review.
In response to the recent articles on waste management by coastal miners in bio-diverse regions, I would like to bring to your attention a paper presented by APEX Environmental (Kahn 2003a) to the World Bank's Extractive Industries Review during their Asia-Pacific round held in Bali.
This paper focuses on current as well as anticipated environmental and socio-economic impacts of submarine tailings disposal (STD) activities in Southeast Asia and includes the following statements of concern:
Inclusion of these concerns 1-8 in EIA terms of reference in all coastal mining activities in SE Asia is necessary because:
B. Relevance to coastal mining in North Sulawesi.
This public document is highly relevant to the coastal mining situation in N Sulawesi. For this area in particular we do have important data on cetaceans (see below references). We know the tip of N Sulawesi (and extending towards Siao Isl along the Sangihe Talaud Islands) is
C. Recent industry-based policies against using STD as a waste management option.
Finally, it is also worth mentioning that in 2004 BHP Billiton, the largest miner in the world, adopted a company policy which specifically advises against the use of Submarine Tailings Disposal as a waste management option in all their projects, throughout the world. The formal statement declares that: "BHP Billiton has decided not to pursue Deep Sea Tailing Placement (DSTP) as a potential tailing disposal option for any of its current prospects. The Company also believes that given the very specific circumstances where DSTP could be considered appropriate, it is unlikely that the technology will be pursued in any of our future developments".
Additional sources on the Extractive Industries Review and policy recommendations can be found on www.eireview.org and www.worldbank.org/ogmc/
I trust this letter will be of assistance to all stakeholders - governments, extractive industries, NGOs, academia and local communities alike - in coastal mining projects for which STD is either operational or being considered, in Indonesia and the throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Regards,
Benjamin Kahn
Director
APEX Environmental
Asia-Pacific Oceanic Cetacean Program
IUCN Species Survival Commission - Cetacean Specialist Group
bkahn@apex-environmental.com
References:
Kahn, B. 2003a. Potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of Submarine Tailing Disposal (STD) in regions of intense marine resource use and exceptional coastal and oceanic marine bio-diversity. Expert Testimonial Paper presented to the World Bank - Asia Pacific Extractive Industries Review (EIR) Consultation. 26 - 30 April 2003, Bali, Indonesia.
This testimonial presentation was partly based on two Statements of Concern on Submarine Tailing Disposal initially released in 1999 ("STD and Cetaceans" by Benjamin Kahn and "STD and Cephalopods" by Mark Norman, an expert on deep-sea cephalopods, such as squid and octopus, in the Indo-Pacific). The statements have been used for ministerial briefings and are available as PDF files from www.apex-environmental.com/IOCPImpacts.html).
Kahn, B. and J. Pet. 2003b. Long-term visual and acoustic cetacean surveys in Komodo National Park, Indonesia 1999-2001: Management implications for large migratory marine life. In: Proceedings and publications of the World Congress on Aquatic Protected Areas 2002. Australian Society for Fish Biology. 625-637p.
Kahn, B. 2002. Indonesia's migratory corridors for large marine life: Scientific and management perspectives. In: Proceedings of the 1st Regional Session of the Global Biodiversity Forum for the Pacific (GBF): ?Global Forces and their Impacts on the Pacific?s Biodiversity: Towards Local and Regional Response Strategies. Rarotonga, Cook Islands July 5-8, July 2002.
Kahn, B., James-Kahn, Y. and J. Pet. 2000. Komodo National Park cetacean surveys - A rapid ecological assessment of cetacean diversity, distribution and abundance. Indonesian Journal of Coastal and Marine Resources 3(2). 41-59.
Kahn, B. 1999. Oceanic cetacean surveys and sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) ecology research of Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. In: Proceedings of the 13th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Hawaii Nov.28 - Dec. 3 1999. p92.