Viewing page 64 of 82
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
100 [[newspaper clipping]] Mining may wipe out Malaysian town Jkt Post, May 1, 1992 By Abdul Jalil Hamid PAPAN, Malaysia (Reuter): This one-street Malaysian town was once the playground of wealthy tin miners who packed its brothels, gambling and opium dens nearly a century ago. But now Papan faces the threat of being wiped off the map because of the curse of its wealth- rich tin deposits. A Malaysian firm, Hock Hin Leong Sdn, wants to move the 1,500 residents out of the town in the northern state of Perak and mine the deposits. In 1968 the company won the rights from the government to mine an area of 100 acres (40 hectares)in and around Papan. But efforts by the company to move the residents have hit snags over the choice of new living sits for them and how much compensation to pay them. The company is offering each family a house at a discounted price of 30,000 ringgit (US$11,630) which it is building in another area, but the residents want a plot of land each in a different area, plus money. They decline to say how much. "This is our birthplace," said Papan resident Chong Kam Min, 59. "Give us a better deal, otherwise we won't move." "The company has said it would try to meet our demands," an official from the Papan residents' committee said. "So far there is no word yet from them." Papan was once home to over 10,000 miners and businessmen from as far afield as Britain, Australia and China. But over the years, the boom town has gone bust as its fortunes dwindled with the falling price of tin, of which Malaysia was once the world's largest producer. Tin prices are hovering at below 15 ringgit ($5.81) a kg, the lowest in more than five years and well below the average cost of Malaysian production. "Malaysia still has one of the world's highest known tin reserves," said one mining consultant. "Nearby towns are also sitting on rich tin deposits. But again it depends on overall costs and development priorities." Ironically, the fate of Papan depends on the price of tin remaining low. If prices stay at current levels or fall further, the company may abandon plans to mine the deposits, Perak state officials say. Perak means "silver" in Malay but in the 19th and 20th centuries it was the main tin-mining center in the country which drew thousands of ethnic Chinese. Many became millionaires from the tin. Rival Chinese groups even fought each other in the 1860s for control over the mines until they were stopped by the British, paving the way for the colonization of then-Malaya. Today Papan residents, who are mostly ethnic Chinese, no longer depend on mining. Most are working on construction sites and in factories in the state capital Ipoh. Perak Chief Minister Ramli Ngah Talib told Reuter the mining company would be asked to submit its resettlement plans to the state government soon. But he expressed doubts the company would go ahead with its plans due to weak prices and high capital out-lay. If the company does not want to carry out mining due to low prices, "that means the status of the people and the land is the same," Ramli said. "There need not be worry on the part of anybody." But residents said their future remains at stake as long as the issue drags on. "Our houses are in bad shape and we won't want to spend money on repairs, only having to move after that ," one said. [[image]] Resident Chong Kam Min, 59, gestures as he talks about the early days of the Papan town, when it was once the playground of wealthy tin miners, who packed its brothels, gambling houses and opium dens nearly a century ago. 101 [[newspaper clipping]] Workshop on gold mining impact to be held [[left margin]] Jet. Post, May or June 1992 [[/left margin]] BOGOR (JP): The Biological Science Club, a non-governmental organization (NGO), announced yesterday that is will hold a workshop on the ecological impact of gold mining in part of Mount Halimun national park in the Bogor regency. The workshop will be officially opened by State Minister of Population and Environment Emil Salim on June 18 at the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) building. It will be attended by NGO representatives from throughout the country and a number of high ranking government officials, Yusuf Effendi, the club's spokesman, told The Jakarta Post yesterday. "We are holding the workshop because of our concern with the environmental degradation in the national park. The area is noted for its high gold deposits. That is why a state-owned mining corporation, PT Aneka Tambang, has been exploiting park of the area in Cikotok extensively since 1954. In the last five years, however, the company has been carrying out explorations in areas on Mount Pongkor and Mount Butak in Nangung district, which are part of the park," Yusuf said. Local people had rushed to the mountains to search for gold. Most of them had abandoned their jobs as farmers because they could earn about Rp 1 million a month from gold mining activities. "But the extensive gold mining in the area has caused ecological destruction," said Yusuf. "Even though it is too late to prevent the destruction, efforts should be made to rehabilitate the areas such as Ciawitali, Cikaniki river on Mt. Butak, Cikidang and Lebak Situ," Yusuf said, adding that the club conducted a survey on the area's biodiversity and socioeconomic condition for two years from 1988 until 1990. Protected forest The park is situated in the three regencies of Bogor, Sukabumi and Lebak. From 1924 until 1977, the 39.941-hectare mountain area was designated as protected forest. On Jan. 17, 1979, based on the decree of the minister of agriculture, No. 40/kpts/uni/1979 the area was included in Mount Gede-Pangrando National Park. On July 8, 2990, based on the decree of the forestry ministry, the director general of forest protection and conservation, the area was put under the same management as Mount Gede-Pangrango national park. The area has an average rainfall density ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 millimeters (mm) annually, and between the months of May and August the average rainfall is 200 mm per month. The area is ecologically important because of its great resources. Most of the rivers in the three regencies come from springs in this area. Mount Halimun is a volcanic mountain although it is currently dormant. It is connected with Bukit Barisan mount range in Sumatra. (mnr)
