Richard Ness : Blog : Buyat Fishermen and the Sea, Pledoi and other Developments

Buyat Fishermen and the Sea, Pledoi and other Developments - 09 Jan 2007
by Eric

On 7-Jan-07, Kompas, the leading national daily of Indonesia had an amazing full-page photo-story on Buyat fishermen. This photo documentation shows the pictures of Buyat community working as a team in the early morning hours to catch fish from Buyat Bay. The catch of course is quite handsome. And the overall message is simple—Buyat fishermen see the ocean as their friend, and the stock of fish remains high enough to support their livelihood.

Earlier in Dec 2006 Buyat fish had caught the national attention for winning a major culinary competition. The daily-Harian Komentar reported on 19-Dec-06 that “Fish from Buyat Bay which had been reported as dangerous because it was contaminated with mine waste, became the prima donna at a recent national “Healthy Menu” competition in Padang, West Sumatra.”

All this should not be a surprise because more than two years ago on 30-Sep-2004, the village leaders from the Ratatotok District had publicly declared that the fish from Buyat Bay were perfectly safe for human consumption.

In between came the November 2004 Technical Team Report with its spurious calculations that desperately tried to create the scare that the fish from Buyat Bay have arsenic. As the events surrounding this case have evolved, accusations of pollution lie in shambles and facts stand with arms akimbo. Lady N must be exclaiming: “Here’s is the smell of hazard index still—all the data manipulations of this world could not make the fish go bad. Oh, Oh, Oh!”

Now the case is nearing the finishing line. Today, after 45 court sessions taking over one and a half years was the first day for my Dad to sit in court to read out the first of three written arguments to refute the prosecution charges against PTNMR, the Defendant-1 in this case. These written arguments are articulated in a document called a Pledoi (pronounced as “play-doy”), which the Indonesian legal system has inherited from the Dutch.

As I understand it from my Dad, today’s arguments started with the defense of the company, PT NMR and those arguments will take one more day. Today’s argumentation in the small, non-air-conditioned court started with the summation of over 27 facts and expert witness testimonies ranging from villagers confirming that there has been no impact to the fishing in Buyat Bay, to Medical experts confirming that there are no “unusual diseases” in the village, to Ministers of the Environment and other government officials who confirmed that PT NMR held all the necessary licenses and permits, to renowned academics and scientists who basically questioned what Dad and I have been asking since July 2004: WHAT POLLUTION ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? BUYAT BAY IS NOT POLLUTED.

Tomorrow will bring more of the same with a second round of the company’s arguments which will culminate with the summation of over 200 pieces of written evidence and legal arguments which should mark the beginning of the end of the Buyat Bay Hoax, once and for all.

Then the following day Dad’s legal team will start with his defense as President Director. Dad is saving the finale for himself when he has the opportunity to present his own written arguments and summations.

Stay tuned folks, the truth about Buyat and the inappropriate actions of those that started this travesty are about to be revealed to the court and for the general public. And from my perspective, it’s about time!

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