Rio Tinto: The Mining Giant Pollutes Indonesia's Environment



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Rio Tinto Under Attack

In early-2003, Rio Tinto, the world's biggest privately-owned mining company, came under attack at its annual general meeting for alleged environmental destruction and human rights abuses related to its mining operations in Indonesia. Among other allegations, Rio Tinto, the parent company of the Indonesian mining outfit PT Citra Palu Mineral (PT CPM), was said to be secretly exploring the protected forest park 'Poboya-Paneki Great Forest Park' for gold reserves.

The forest park was a protected conservation reserve within a distance of seven kilometers from the provincial capital of Palu in Central Sulawesi. It was a crucial water catchment area and a source of drinking water supply for Palu, managed by the local communities. Rio Tinto had reportedly continued mining in this area despite opposition from the local community (on environmental issues).....

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Rio Tinto Under Attack Contd...

owever, Rio Tinto maintained that it did not see any problem with mining in the forest area as it was adhering to the applicable government regulations. For Rio Tinto, controversies such as the one above were nothing new. The company had been embroiled in many other similar problems for years.However, the forest park issue gained a lot of prominence as the local community and many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) began opposing the mining activities strongly (Refer Exhibit I).

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