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View all search resultsLimestone mine endangers environment, livelihoods on Maluku’s Kei Besar Island
Mining activities at a limestone quarry are threatening lives and the environment on Kei Besar Island through a higher risk of flooding and landslides as well as disruption to fishing communities, not to mention increased marginalization of islanders.
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An excavator operates at a limestone quarry in the Kei Islands, an archipelago of small islands in Southeast Maluku, Maluku province, in this undated photo. (Courtesy of /Solidaritas Peduli Kei Besar)
T
he residents of Kei Besar Island in Southeast Maluku regency, Maluku province, are facing growing environmental and economic threats from a limestone quarry that opened recently, once again highlighting the urgent need to strengthen protections for indigenous peoples and remote communities across the country.
Kei Besar resident Maimuna Renhoran said the island had become increasingly vulnerable to flooding and landslides since mining operations began at the quarry in August last year.
She told The Jakarta Post recently that the limestone bedrock played a vital role in regulating the water cycle by absorbing rainwater and releasing it gradually to maintain the island’s natural hydrological balance.
“A massive flood hit us last month. Before the mining started, we never experienced flooding,” Maimuna said.
She added that sedimentation from mining activities had reached the sea, forcing fishermen to venture farther offshore to find fish. The island’s fishers previously needed only around 1 liter of fuel per trip, she said, but now they required up to 5 liters.
According to Maimuna, the mining company apparently said the Kei Besar limestone quarry was part of a national strategic project.
The company has allegedly leased the islanders’ customary land at a rate of Rp 20,000 (US$1.20) per square meter under a 15-year contract but has paid just Rp 8,000 per square meter to date, while residents were not given a copy of the contracts they signed.
