5 February 2001

5 February 2001

Megawati Soekarnoputri
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Instana Merdeka
Jl. Merdeka Utara,
Jakarta, Indonesia
Fax: 62 021 2302420

Dear Madame President,

I / We would like to express my /our grave concern with the alarming incidents that have and are continuing to occur at the PT Inco nickel mine site in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The One Pute Jaya and Bahumotefe community lands in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, have been staked for PT Inco's expanded contract of work area. The One Pute Jaya and Bahumotefe citizens reject PT Inco's plans to mine on their land. In early May 2001, One Pute Jaya and Bahumotefe citizens as well as several non-governmental organizations held a demonstration in front of the Local Assembly Level I in Central Sulawesi. At this time, the One Pute Jaya Declaration was read by the One Pute Jaya Village Head. The Declaration supported by the One Pute Jaya, Bahumotefe and Bahomoahi Village heads rejects the planned activities and existence of PT Inco in their villages. Despite the citizen's protests, PT Inco have begun exploring and ravaging their lands with test pits.

The contract of work area of PT Inco spreads over the three provinces of South, Southeast and Central Sulawesi. PT Inco's plant is located in Sorowako, North Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi. The expansion plan onto the One Pute Jaya and Bahumotefe lands was approved with no meaningful consultation between the company and the local community and no published environmental or social impact assessment.

Since PT Inco's presence in the area, those communities surrounding PT Inco's operations have been negatively impacted in various ways that we hold as basic human rights violations:

1. Forced land evictions with inadequate land compensation and unsettled land rights cases.
2. Unfulfilled promises of free health care, education, electricity, clean water services and priority in employment.
3. Environmental degradation including air pollution, land degradation, flooding, Matano Lake and Larona River ecosystem destruction. No reclamation and revegetation on lands already mined.
4. Community health deterioration as a result of dust and smoke from the PT Inco plant.
5. Social problems; Negative impacts on women, changes to the local cultural landscape and loss of local livelihoods.

Bearing in my mind, the decades of environmental and social degradation and the human rights violations that PT Inco has brought to the communities and surrounding area of its operations, we demand that the Indonesian Government review the current contract of work between the Indonesian government and PT Inco, in order to prevent further incidents of human rights violations and environmental degradation on communities, relating to the PT Inco's nickel mining.

Thus, in support of the struggle of the Bahumotefe and One Pute Jaya communities, who reject the existence of PT Inco on their land in the province of Central Sulawesi, we ask for your utmost attention and action on this matter. We hope that these injustices suffered by the South Sulawesi communities whose lands have been seized and living conditions been degraded will not be in vain nor repeated in other communities.

Yours Sincerely,

cc
Canadian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia
World Trade Center 6th Floor
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav 29-31
Jakarta, Indonesia 12920
Telp: 62 021 525 0709
Fax: 62 021 571 2251
Email: canadianembassy.jkrta@dfait-maec.gc.ca

Indonesian House of Representatives
Email: humas-dpr@dpr.go.id

Indonesian Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy
Purnomo Yusgiantoro
Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan No. 18
Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia 1010
Telp: 62 021 381 3232
Fax: 62 021 384 6596

Governor of Central Sulawesi
Telp: 0451 421 1111/ 421 1311
Fax: 0451 423612

Governor of South Sulawesi
Telp: 0411 453050
Fax: 0411 453489

Governor of Southeast Sulawesi
D/a. Kompelks Bumi Praja Andounohu Kendari
Telp: 0401.391617
Fax: 0401.391614
Email: gubernur@kendari.wasantara.net.id

Inco Limited
CEO Scott Hand
145 King Street West
Suite 1500
Toronto, Ontario M5H 4B7,
Canada
Telephone: (416) 361-7511
Facsimile: (416) 361-7781
Email: inco@inco.com

PT. INTERNATIONAL NICKEL INDONESIA Tbk.
Bapindo Plaza II, 22 nd Floor
Jl. Jenderal Sudirman Kav. 54-55
P.O Box 2799, Jakarta, Indonesia
Telp (021) 524 9000, Fax (021) 5249020
Email: daenuwya@inco.com

Sorowako, North Luwu, South Sulawesi
Telp: JKT Lines 62-021 524 9000, Makassar Lines 0411 318545
Fax : JKT Lines 62-021 524 9560, 524 9570