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View all search results‘Slitting open earth’s skin’: Mining divides, damages Raja Ampat
The Jakarta Post visits Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua, to take a closer look at the recent nickel mining controversy that threatens to unravels the archipelago regency. In addition to causing irreversible damage to forest and marine ecosystems, the extractive activities have also created tensions among islanders.
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PT Gag Nikel’s barge and tug boats have been moored for weeks at the company’s port at Gag island, Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua, on June 19.
(JP/Nikka Amandra Gunadharma)
This is the first part of three stories.
At a serene harbor on Gag Island, Southwest Papua, a barge and several tugboats have been moored for weeks. Although the barge was fully loaded with nickel ore and ready to sail west to a smelter in Weda Bay, North Maluku, there were no signs it was going to leave the island.
The vessels belong to PT Gag Nikel, a subsidiary of state-owned mining firm PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), which operates one of the five nickel mines in the archipelago regency of Raja Ampat.
All mining activities in the regency have been halted since a recent international uproar over nickel extraction in the islands, which have been described as heaven on earth for their marine beauty and rich biodiversity.
The government has also revoked all mining permits, with an exception of the one in Gag, creating anxiety which has reverberated among residents of the islands, who have been disturbed by the emerging nickel rush of the last few years.
In Gag, despite dodging the revocation bullet, the mining company is still under government scrutiny with officials from multiple government institutions visiting the island over the past month.
