Inco was the second foreign multinational to sign a contract with the Suharto dictatorship, allowing it to mine nickel on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It has been accused of contributing to an increase in childhood asthma, flooding farmland, strip-mining forest areas, and dumping raw sewage into lakes.
Villagers continue to protest over lack of adequate compensation.
The Bahumatefe operation threatens to displace members of the indigenous Bungku people as well as transmigrants from Java and Bali. The Bungku have their own land tenure system involving both farming and gathering forest products, a way of life that would be shattered by the proposed expansion. With the recent news that Inco will not go ahead at this time with a mine in Labrador, there is likely to be increased pressure to expand in Indonesia. It should adhere to the same environmental standards in Indonesia as it does in Canada. The Canadian government should reveal whether any taxpayer funds are going to support the controversial Inco expansion.