"According to the manifest, the waste loaded on MV Redrock vessel was used as lubricants and other worn out materials, which have been granted permission to be recycled in some third-party facilities," Manager of Social Responsibility of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara Syarafuddin Jarot stated here in a release.
The enterprise has allowed the local authority to conduct investigation on the MV Redrocks manifest.
Head of the Mineral and Natural Resources Office of West Nusa Tenggara after being directly involved in the probe of the vessel has tendered a clarification to confirm that the allegations were false.
"There were indeed toxic wastes on board, but after speaking with PT Newmont, we found that they were being taken to Surabaya to be sold to collectors," Jarot noted after a meeting with the representatives of PT Newmont, PT Meratus, and the Indonesian Naval Base VII of Kupang in PT Pelindo III Building in Kupang.
The authority found 17 containers, eight of them containing gas cylinders, two having used lubricants, and the others containing used mining buckets, safety uniforms, and accumulators or batteries.
The wastes were to be delivered to Surabaya for recycling.
The Indonesian Navy had earlier intercepted the Redrock tanker ship on suspicion of carrying poisonous waste to be dumped in the waters of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
The ship was suspected of carrying the toxic waste of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, which operates the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia on the island of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara Province.
Intercepted by the Indonesian Warship Weling, the Redrock tanker ship, which was loaded with dozens of containers, was then escorted to the port of Lantamal VII Kupang in NTT Province and was guarded by armed navy personnel.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
