Dear Friends,
We would like to inform you about a disastrous development that we are currently facing.
A Chinese company wants to start an iron mine on Bangka, with the intention of mining both on the land, and just off the coast of (the Western side of) Bangka Island.
If this mining starts, then half of Bangka will turn into an open pit mining site, and the underwater mining activities will stir up so much sediment, sand, and dirt that the reefs surrounding Bangka and neighbouring Islands will all die. Even the reefs within the Bunaken National Park are not safe…
According to the Indonesian law it is illegal to mine anything on small Islands, so this should not be happening. However corruption is still a part of life here and the mining corporation ‘bought’ some of the government people to get some of “the licenses” they need.
They do not have all the licenses yet to start their operation, which means we still have time to fight for our rights, our life, and most importantly for the conservation of the environment!
The resorts in the area are working together with the villagers and a local environmental organisation to try and stop this illegal activity.
As the mining company is moving fast (they want to start operating before the end of this year) we need to act quickly to have a chance to stop them. Therefore it is now time to set up this petition, so we can show the Indonesian government that they are creating a future catastrophe by allowing the mining on a small Island.
This should hopefully create more awareness within the government and should be enough to stop the mining company from getting the licence to mine.
We hope you are willing to help us preserve this beautiful piece of the world.
