U.S. Agency Cuts Support to Enviro Groups Critical of Mining

by Danielle Knight

So far, the funding of one Indonesia environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) has been cut by the U.S. government agency and groups here and in Indonesia worry that financial support for another -- which it supported for years -- will also be halted.

Environmental groups warn that de-funding Indonesian NGOs undermines recent attempts to amend the corruption of the past regime under former president Suharto.

Since the democratic election of Pres. Abdurrahman Wahid, many groups and government officials have openly criticized contracts signed under the past dictatorship with multinational corporations, including U.S. mining companies.

"We strongly urge the U.S. State Department to support Indonesia's fragile democracy rather than protect sweetheart deals for American corporations," said a letter by Friends of the Earth sent to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

In April, the Indonesian Mining Advocacy Network, a Jakarta-based advocacy group known as JATAM, received a letter from the Biodiversity Support Program Kemala, which disburses USAID funds, that said it would not renew the network's funding.

The group had been given $75,000 to protect the rights of communities to manage their natural resources and also assist in monitoring the impact of mining operations.

Citing human rights abuses and environmental destruction caused by mining in Indonesia, JATAM came out with a strong position in 1999 to cease all new mining activities in Indonesia and urged the government to revoke all the mining licenses and permits given to all mining corporations.

One of the main perpetrators, according to JATAM, is Denver-based Newmont Mining Corporation.

While Newmont said it has high environmental standards and has never broken the law, Muhammed told IPS that high concentrations of mercury, lead, arsenic, copper, cadmium and other toxic compounds have been found in nearby Buyat Bay.

"Fish stocks have declined dramatically and this is a big problem for the fishermen whose income is going down," he said.

After JATAM held a workshop in November 1999 condemning Newmont's actions, Muhammed said he received a call from the U.S. embassy inquiring whether the funds used in the workshop were derived from USAID. According to Muhammed, the embassy said they received a complaint from Newmont protesting the use of U.S. taxpayers' money to fund a campaign against a U.S. company.

Kim Walz, a spokeswoman for USAID, confirmed that JATAM's funding was not renewed.

"Doubts were raised about JATAM's ability to give impartial assistance to communities and we determined that this was harmful to U.S. goals," she told IPS.

In the face of the funding cut, members of the organization say they remain determined to not alter their position in order to receive financial support.

"We shall continue our work to support communities and the environment against the ravages of the oil and mining industry and will not bow to pressure," said Estee Helvi Lystiani, the information manager at JATAM.

Another Indonesia environmental group's funding may also be on the chopping block because of its criticism of mining operations in Irian Jaya, the name given to the western half of New Guinea, according to Friends of the Earth here.

Known as Walhi, or Friends of the Earth Indonesia, the environmental group said Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg Mine in Irian Jaya has devastated more than 100 kilometers of rainforest. They accuse Freeport of dumping toxic mine waste into nearby rivers causing fish caught by the Amungme tribe to die.

With copper, gold, and silver deposits reportedly worth more than $60 billion, Grasberg is one of the world's largest mines and remains the country's single largest source of tax revenue.

Indonesia's environmental groups are hardly the only critics of Grasberg.

The mine's impact sparked an international outcry and prompted the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) which was helping finance the mine, to conduct an independent environmental audit of Grasberg.

According to OPIC, the mine "has created and continues to pose unreasonable or major environmental, health or safety hazards with respect to the rivers that are being impacted by the tailings, the surrounding ecosystems, and the local inhabitants."

Like Walhi, the Indonesian minister of environment and several Indonesian parliamentarians are calling for an independent environmental audit of Freeport's operations. Some officials have raised the possibility of renegotiating the corporation's contract with the government.

In the past several weeks, according to Friends of the Earth, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Gelbard has publicly praised Freeport's environmental record and personally intervened to cut off funds for JATAM and Walhi. The latter has received about $400,000 since 1997 from USAID.

Walz, with USAID, said this is untrue.

"There has been no pressure whatsoever," she told IPS. "The ambassador has not discussed this with USAID."

She said that she can neither confirm nor deny that Walhi's funding will be cut. "Walhi is up for routine renewal and they are currently in negotiations," she said.

An environmental letter-writing campaign here urging the State Department to continue funding Walhi has reportedly yielded more than 6,000 letters, according to Friends of the Earth.

"The Indonesian people are making valiant and courageous efforts to establish a clean, effective and responsive government, to enforce the rule of law, to create a just society and to safeguard Indonesia's unique natural heritage," said the letter.