Deceived Buyat refugees return, claiming NGOs broke promises

Jongker Rumteh ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Manado   |  Thu, 11/27/2008 11:04 AM  |  The Archipelago

Evacuees from the Buyat Bay area in South Minahasa, North Sulawesi, who have been living in Duminanga, Bolaang Mangondow regency, have returned home after rights groups failed to supply the amenities they had initially promised to provide them with.

As many as 30 of 68 families have now returned to Buyat because the Buyat Bay Humanitarian Committee (KKTB) and a number of non-governmental groups, including the Health Legal Aid Institute (LBHK), reneged on their pledge to provide aid.

The Buyat residents said they were even required by the NGOs to claim they had contracted various illnesses from tailings dumped by gold mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya into the bay area.

A number of residents who spoke to The Jakarta Post in Buyat recently said they had been enduring cramped quarters built by the KKTB and administered by Abit Takalamingan, a South Sulawesi legislator from the Prosperous Justice Party.

One returnee, Sudirman Modeong, who arrived back in Buyat six months ago, said that, unlike in Buyat, he was not able to catch fish in waters off Duminanga, because the area was too rocky. They lack the larger boats necessary to catch tuna, which is only available further from the coast and during certain seasons.

"When we moved to Duminanga, we were not provided with motor boats or equipment to catch tuna, so most of us could not sail to the open sea. We had to rely on fishing along the coast," Sudirman said, adding that had he and his family not been lured by the promises of KKTB and other NGOs, their lives would likely be better.

Sudirman and his family now live in a substandard house, but say they are happy now, because Buyat Bay offers more hope for them.

Sudirman said he no longer owned a home because he and a number of other residents burned their homes, after being lured by the promise from activists that they would be provided with fully furnished homes in Duminanga.

"Abid supervised the relocation to Duminanga. He was the one who promised us that we would receive keys to our new homes, so many of us demolished our homes in Buyat. But when we arrived there, we only found modest and unfurnished barracks to live in. We were cheated by the KKTB and other rights groups," Sudirman said.

Asked for confirmation by The Post on Nov. 24, Abid Takalamingan said he had never promised anything to those who had agreed to be relocated.

Abid said that his group had organized the relocation of 72 families to Duminanga and received an amount of funds from donors to arrange the move. He claimed however, to have forgotten the amount.

He added that the funds had been used to build the temporary barracks, purchase land, provide daily meals for the 72 families and rent trucks to move the residents and their belongings to Duminanga.

The slighted residents are currently looking for a legal adviser to bring the case to court.

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