Save Bangka Island: Sign petition to halt mining!

[BlueBayDivers]

Dear Friends, I would like to inform you about a disastrous development that we are currently facing. A Chinese company is building 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. 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. Bunaken is one of the 10 best diving sites in the world. Bangka island measures 4800 hectares and is categorized as a small island under Indonesian law. According to the Indonesian law it is illegal to mine anything on small Islands, so this should not be happening. Bangka also hosts three fishing villages (Lihunu, Kahuku and Libas) and four diving resorts. The provincial development plan maps it as a marine tourism development zone. 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. The resorts in the area are working together with the villagers and a local environmental organisation to try and stop this illegal activity. They have already sent a letter to the local House of Representatives to get a hearing, but so far nothing seems to happen. 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. So my friends, you can also be involved AT LEAST JUST BY SIGNING THE PETITION ON THIS WEBSITE: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/safe-bangka-stop-mining/ You don't have to register anything. You just have to fill the simple form, and add your comment/reason you vote for Bangka Island. We need 10.000 signature, guys! Your help is really important for us all. Please, tell your friends and familiy to sign the petition. More information about this campaign can be obtain in this facebook group: Log In | Facebook Thank you!

 

[Bali Diver]

YEP ! this is disastrous and illegal by Indonesian law.shocked that it is happening.Corruption once again.Signed up last week.

I think there is no reason why every diver should not sign the petition

 

[Mossman]

YEP ! this is disastrous and illegal by Indonesian law.shocked that it is happening.Corruption once again.Signed up last week.

I think there is no reason why every diver should not sign the petition

Because it's a waste of time? Why would a politician respect a petition signed by mainly foreigners when he can take a bribe of hard cash from the Chinese?

 

[edpdiver]

I signed it. (It may not help a lot, but it can't hurt; also, it might be useful in applying some pressure because may of the people signing the petition will have an economic impact on the country when they quit visiting as the reefs are killed off.)

 

[AlMitch]

Mossman you are right that at the end of the day money talks, so hopefully the Indonesian government will realise that if these mines go ahead they will lose the tourist dollar. Signing the petition can not hurt.

 

[Bali Diver]

Because it's a waste of time? Why would a politician respect a petition signed by mainly foreigners when he can take a bribe of hard cash from the Chinese?

Maybe but where would we be if we all thought negative in life.I like to think more positive in life and not everyone is corrupt and if it fails,you tried and there is no failure in that

I think there is no reason why MOST divers should not sign the petition

 

[BlueBayDivers]

thanks for the positive thoughts!! and yes, try to help to safe nature and ocean is never wasting time! please help us and sign the petition! thanks anke

 

[Mossman]

Unfortunately mining is often more lucrative than tourism, especially in remote areas like Bangka which attract mere handfuls of divers and few others.

"The majority of the inhabitants are Malay Indonesians and Chinese mostly Hakkas. The population is split between those who work the pepper farms and those who
work on the tin mines."

Unless the mining operation interferes with the pepper farms, I don't think anyone there gives a damn. You really want to make a difference with a petition, get the pepper farmers to sign, and get some lobbying support from the pepper industry. No one is going to care about a petition signed by foreigners who like to see fish any more than they'd care about a petition signed by fish.

How are those petitions to the Japanese to stop whaling and to the Chinese to stop shark finning doing?

 

[highdesert]

How are those petitions to the Japanese to stop whaling and to the Chinese to stop shark finning doing?

If you were one who tracked those kinds of things, you would see that there has been a significant impact in favor of the sharks in both Hong Kong and Taiwan, particularly among the younger generations, to the point that the amount of positive activity surprised me. I'm not disagreeing with your points about mining on Bangka, but it would be wrong to dismiss petition activity as having no impact, dependent on the case.

 

[gee13]

This is criminal and should not be allowed. If the precedent is set here then what is to follow? Imagine a mine setup in Komodo Island or around Raja Ampat? Of course money talks in SEA however public opinion and vote can talk louder. There were plans to mine an area near ningaloo reef here, a marine sanctuary zone. Public outcry and lobbying led to wwf declaration so now a large part of the zone off limits to mining.