Stop the Indomet coal mine

Date: 27 May 2015

Global Justice Now and London Mining Network handed in a petition to global mining giant BHP Billiton asking them to pull out of the devastating Indo Met Coal project in Indonesian Borneo.

Back in 2013, we visited Borneo and revealed the terrible damage coal mining is doing to communities in the region, releasing a report, a video and an interactive web documentary. Whole swathes of rainforest are being destroyed and river polluted, while local people got less than half a penny per square metre in compensation for their land.

Today we handed the petition to the head of BHP Billiton’s London office, Nick Allen. We called on him to pull out of the project and we held a protest with a large banner outside their headquarters near Victoria station.

A similar protest also happened in Australia where security officials pulled down the banner within seconds of it being raised.

Rather than trying to silence us, it would be better for BHP to listen to the communities of Borneo and end the Indo Met Coal project and secure Indonesian government backing for the area to be turned into a protected area so no other mining companies can take over these dubious assets.

If you want to know more about the Indo Met Coal project, you can see the factsheet.