18 August 2021
PT Freeport Indonesia is intensifying its efforts to reclaim the dry land which used to be known as the former open pit mine Grasberg in Mimika, Papua after it has totally been exploited and is now entering a new stage of reclamation.
Senior Manager for Mine Closure PTFI, I Mengah Giri, explained he is now working on the land’s reclamation by primarily using endemic flora that used to be growing at the open pit before it was closed in 2019.
Giri did not specifically mention the species flora he and his crew are planting, although in PTFI’s official website mention was made of a type of local grass, several species of rhododendron and moss. “The Grasberg whose name translates into grass covered mountain in the distant past was known as a mountain where grass grew in abundance. It is the grass here that we are trying to reclaim,” Giri said at the top of the Grasberg on Monday (8/116/2021).
The reclamation that PTFI is taking on, said Giri, is a commitment of the mining company that once managed the largest gold mine in the world. Despite that he admitted to replant the humongous hole that mining exploitation over the years left behind with a diameter of 3.5 kilometer in size and 1 kilometer in depth is not an easy matter. Several parts of the sides of the Grasberg wall had to be filled in first before planting can commence in an effort to prevent the landslides from happening.
With the current width and depth of the Grasberg, Giri said the former mine can no longer be filled up to take its original size. The tremendous hollow vacancy on top of the mountain can no longer be filled up to its original form and the least to be done was only to replant it with grass and endemic ferns. It would not be technically possible to do otherwise with such a lengthy diameter and depth, “he said. And thus reclamation cannot take other forms than it has been designated for,” he said. President Director PTFI Tony Wenas at the program Kompak Talks with the theme Restoration of Sustainable Biodiversity on July 6th 2021 clarified that PTFI has had been implementing reclamation and rehabilitation already since 1999.
He said, that in 2019 more than 2800 hectares have been replanted. This was not limited to the Grasberg only but also encompassed Tembagapura, Kuala Lantana and Muawara Ajka in the Far East Mimika District, Mimika Regency, Tony also clarified that in the first semester of 2021 PTFI had planted 1 million trees.
“We replanted an area of 400 hectare, we are planning this year to plant even 7 million trees in an area of 2000 hectares,” Tony said. Although he is not revealing the details of the replanting areas he emphasized PTFI will discontinue exploiting in Papua in 2041. By discontinuing exploitations, Tony said PTFI has to focus on restoring the land and to reinstate it in the fashion it was before. “One day in 2041 we will stop our activities here and then will have to convince everybody that after we stop exploiting here we will have to reinstate the environment sothe people living around us will continue living here in an environment much better than before and they can live their lives the way they see fit.
Kami menghimbau para pencari kerja untuk berhati-hati dan mewaspadai beragam modus penipuan perekrutan yang mengatasnamakan PT Freeport Indonesia. Dalam setiap proses rekrutmen dan penerimaan karyawan, PT Freeport Indonesia maupun konsultan rekruitmennya tidak memungut biaya apapun.
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