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Residents protest water pollution
Hundreds of residents from Harapan and Pasi-Pasi villages in East Luwu regency, South Sulawesi, have staged a protest against nickel mining company PT Vale Indonesia for allegedly polluting the Lampia Sea with an oil spill
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undreds of residents from Harapan and Pasi-Pasi villages in East Luwu regency, South Sulawesi, have staged a protest against nickel mining company PT Vale Indonesia for allegedly polluting the Lampia Sea with an oil spill.
Residents even closed down Mangkasa Point harbor a few weeks ago to stop the spillover.
Local resident and fisherman Muzakkir said that he has seen declining catches ever since the incident and demanded that the company take responsibility for its actions.
'The environment that fed us has been contaminated. If this situation continues, how can we feed our families? We want the management of PT Vale Indonesia and the East Luwu administration to be responsible for this,' Muzakkir said as quoted by tempo.co on Sunday.
He said that the oil spill had also affected the nearby beach with its strong smell and black residue.
The company's president director, Nico Canter, said that residents should not resort to physical actions in the matter as the company has always been open to discussing the issue.
In a statement made available to the press, Canter said the company respected the residents' right to express their opinions in public but hoped that they stopped roadblocking facilities at Mangkasa Point harbor.
'We are open to dialogues to talk about the best solution,' he said.
East Luwu Police chief Sr. Adj. Rio Indra Lesmana said that the police were still investigating the pollution of the Lampia Sea.
