Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Kate Lamb (Reuters), Jakarta – The police are looking into the death of a politician from North Sulawesi who opposed a gold mining project there, after environmental groups and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) called for an investigation.
Helmud Hontong, 58, the deputy regent of the remote Sangihe Islands, was pronounced dead on arrival at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar on Wednesday.
He had appeared to be in good health before boarding a Lion Air flight in Bali but complained of feeling dizzy about 20 minutes after takeoff, his aide, Harmen Kontu, who was sitting beside him at the time, said.
Helmud "lost consciousness and blood flowed from his mouth and nose" soon afterwards, Kontu said.
North Sulawesi Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Jules Abraham Abast said on Monday that they had set up a team to investigate the death.
The initial results of an autopsy did not show any indication of poison, the police said in a forensic report, adding that the suspected cause of death was chronic illness.
No further details were provided, but police said forensic samples had been sent for further testing.
Ahmad Taufan Damanik, the chair of Komnas HAM, said it had asked the police to investigate after they received complaints from Sangihe residents. The commission, he said, would also monitor the mining dispute.
Helmud was a staunch opponent of a 42,000 hectare gold mining concession granted to the company PT Tambang Mas Sangihe. The government gave the green light for the mine in January.
PT Tambang Mas Sangihe is 70 percent owned by Canadian firm Baru Gold Corporation and 30 percent by combined interests, according to the Baru Gold website. The company was not immediately available for comment.
Environmentalists say the mining permit, which covers more than half of Sangihe, is a threat to the island's ancient forest, at least 10 species of birds and water supplies for the island's residents, most of them fishermen and farmers.
On April 28, Helmud wrote to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry urging it to revoke the mining permit on environmental grounds.
The letter had been received and representatives of the ministry were scheduling a meeting with authorities in Sangihe to discuss the mine, Ridwan Djamaluddin, an official from the ministry, said in a statement.
Alfred Pontolondo, coordinator of the Save Sangihe Island environmental group, said Helmud had been close to the island's residents and had opposed the mine "because of his love for the island".