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Minister of Health Admits Mercury Elements in Buyat Pollution Case
Monday, 09 August, 2004 | 23:30 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Indonesian Minister of Health Ahmad Sujudi has admitted there are mercury elements within the bodies of Buyat Bay residents who have undergone physical examinations in Jakarta.

“There are mercury elements within their bodies,” Sujudi told reporters during a seminar on Medical Practice Law at the Sahid Jakarta Hotel on Monday (10/08).

However, Sujudi was unable to make any further conclusions regarding the test results of the Jakarta Health Office laboratory, which found a high level of mercury content within the Buyat Bay residents’ bodies.

Asked whether or not Sujudi was prepared to receive a lawsuit brought by the Health Legal Aid Institute (LBH), he said,” Please do. This is a country of law. So, we settle anything by law.”

Sujudi requested the press not to blow up the Buyat case.

“Please do not confront the government with the victims of the Buyat pollution. This will disturb the general public,” he stated.

Health Legal Aid Institute Iskandar Sitorus said that with Sujudi’s statement over the mercury content, it meant he also admitted that the illness suffered by Buyat Bay residents was not an ordinary skin illness.

Sitorus also denied that the mercury had entered the residents’ bodies through cosmetics, paint or natural rocks.

“The existence of mercury elements within their bodies must have been caused by waste contamination,” he stated. ( Rina Rachmawati - Tempo News Room)