Merdeka Group commemorated World Environment Day with a series of activities aligned with this year’s theme, “Restoration of land and resilience to drought”. Land restoration is integral to Merdeka Group’s mining operations, which employ progressive reclamation—immediately reclaiming mined areas once they are no longer in use, rather than waiting until all operations cease.
PT Bumi Suksesindo (BSI), managing the Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine and the Tujuh Bukit Copper Project in Banyuwangi, East Java, marked the environmental day by planting tree saplings on June 4, 2024, a day ahead of the global celebration.
“Let us actively play our roles in ensuring the environment around the Tujuh Bukit mining operations is well-maintained,” stated Roelly Fransza, General Manager of Operations at BSI. “This includes proper waste disposal, reducing single-use plastics through the 3R approach (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), preventing hazardous material spills, and conserving water and electricity to uphold our shared commitment to energy conservation.”
Since 2016, BSI has reclaimed 75.57 hectares of land in the mining area. In 2023, BSI completed compensatory reforestation totalling 1,990.79 hectares, progressively turning over land since 2020, marking the largest compensation area by a private institution to the government at that time. The June 4 event at BSI also featured upcoming activities: mangrove planting at Candi Purwo, Tegaldlimo on July 5, 2024, and coral transplantation at Grand Watu Dodol, Bangsring on September 7, 2024.
Tree planting continued the next day, June 5, 2024, at the Wetar Copper Mine. On Wetar Island, Southwest Maluku, 85 employees and contractors, including Jimmy B. Suroto, Deputy General Manager, and Hidayat Purwoko, Head of Mining Engineering, planted native trees such as ketapang, cashew, sengon buto, and parna around the new Mining Department Partolang office building. The celebration at Wetar Copper Mine included a beach cleanup around the mining area on June 21, 2024, involving 102 employees, contractors, and Brimob, resulting in 35 kg of collected waste.
In Gorontalo, Sulawesi, the Pani Gold Project celebrated by hosting a seminar on innovative waste management in collaboration with Waste4Change, a social enterprise providing responsible waste management solutions. The seminar, featuring Khairunnisa Yusmalina Humaam, Senior Campaign Executive at Waste4Change, was attended by 104 employees and contractors of the Pani Gold Project.
In Central Sulawesi, PT Merdeka Tsingshan Indonesia (MTI), manager of the AIM (Acid, Iron, Metal) Project operating in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, celebrated World Environment Day by planting 1,200 mangroves in Keurea Village, Bahadopi, Morowali. The planting of the Rhizophora mucronata mangroves was attended by government officials, security forces and representatives from Merdeka Group subsidiaries. The Head of the Morowali Regency Environmental Service, Elyta Gawi, highlighted MTI’s significant role in supporting Morowali Regency. The first Adipura award won by Morowali Regency in 2024 was largely due to MTI’s donation of the most trash cans in 2023. It is hoped that this mangrove planting will inspire other institutions to support environmental conservation efforts.
Meanwhile, at the PT Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk headquarters in Jakarta, the celebration was carried out through the Corporate Volunteer Program, Bakti Merdeka. This time, Bakti Merdeka partnered with SMP Muhammadiyah 8 Jakarta in a workshop to create biopores as a soil conservation solution. The workshop involved 92 eighth-grade students and 15 selected Merdeka employees, emphasizing environmental awareness among the younger generation—a pursuit aligned with Merdeka’s core value of sustainability.
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Main photo: planting of saplings at the Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine.
