Indorayon puts human life and environment at risk
Vereinte Evangelische Mission
Gemeinschaft von Kirchen in drei Erdteilen
United Evangelical Mission
Communion of Churches in three Continents
Mission Evangélique Unie
Communion d’Eglises dans trois Continents
Rudolfstr. 137
D-42285 Wuppertal-GermanyTelefax: 0202 / 89004-179
Telefon: 0202 / 89004-132
E-Mail: info@vemission.orgPress Release, 01/30/2003
UEM against the reopening of pulp mill in Indonesia
Traditional Toba Batak village near PT Indorayon
Photo: Alex Flor
Wuppertal, 30th January 2003 – The UEM supports the protest of Indonesian churches and NGOs against the reopening of the PT Inti Indorayon Utama pulp mill in North Sumatra.
In a letter to the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the UEM, together with Misereor, the Diaconical Work of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Watch Indonesia! and INFID, appeals to the Indonesian government to refrain from reopening the mill, to avoid risks to the population and the environment.The PT Inti Indorayon Utama mill in Porsea, Indonesia is located at the centre of a densely populated district near to one of the largest fresh water reservoirs in South East Asia. Although environmentalists and the then Indonesian Minister for the Environment had already warned of the foreseeable consequences from the outset, the project was implemented under the patronage of Suharto.
The mill releases pollutants, often unfiltered, into the environment, pollutes the water and air in the region and destroys the local Batak population’s basis for life. During the 1990s, scientific evidence demonstrated that the mill was responsible for the damage caused to the health of the local population: skin diseases, respiratory illnesses and damage to the nervous system are consequences of the production of pulp and rayon. Furthermore, land clearing, essential for production, has had a devastating impact on local farming: landslides, uncontrollable fluctuations in the water supply, damage to plants and fish.
After the downfall of Suharto, and as a result of the massive protests by the people, production was temporarily stopped, but since then the company has been fighting incessantly for production to be resumed – as it turns out, successfully. Although the Indonesian Minister for the Environment had recommended the final closure of the plant at the beginning of 2000, the government gave the company management permission to resume operations in November 2002. Since then, there have been recurring violent clashes between the local population and the police. In November 2002, sixteen demonstrators were imprisoned, among them two pastors from the Batak Protestant Christian Church (HKBP), one of the UEM’s member churches.
In a letter to Megawati Sukarnoputri, the organisations call on the Indonesian government not to use military force to resolve the conflict, but to seek constructive dialogue with the local people. In addition, the organisations demand that those who are still imprisoned in Tarutung are granted free access to lawyers of their own choice, to their families and to medical treatment. The organisations demand the release of all the prisoners, if they are not charged with a recognizable criminal offence.
Contact: UEM Public Relations Desk – 0202/ 89 004-134
