Author: Hafiz Noor Shams

For more about me, please read this.

Categories
Environment

[452] Of Bhopal 20 years on

One of the world’s worst environmental disasters happened 20 years ago in Bhopal, India. A large quantity of toxic was accidentally released, killing more than 50 000 people with many more facing health problems. At the same time, Greenpeace was one of the few organizations that actively brought this case forward to the public.

Every time around this part of the semester, this issue is brought forward to the University’s masses. I first learnt about Bhopal when I was a freshman here at Michigan. That was four years ago.

Union Carbide which was the owner of the leaked plant had never admitted its mistake. Instead of accepting the responsibility of the accident, it claimed that the leak in Bhopal was caused by industrial sabotage. Various litigations were made against the company in both the US and in India but progressed still lagged after 2 decades has passed. A website by Union Carbide explains why the company refused to be held accountable.

Union Carbine is now owned by Dow Chemical Company, a firm based in Michigan. Dow too refused to accept the responsibility of the accident. It asserts that Union Carbide had fulfilled their responsibility. Groups from the other side of the fence however insist that when Dow brought Carbide Union, Dow should also inherit the liability. I too believe Dow should accept the responsibility.

Categories
Economics Environment

[451] Of Indonesian litigation against Newmont

While oil — with Brent currently at $45.75 per barrel — seems to have a high volatility and heading upward, another commodity is currently having an upward tread. Instead of black gold, this commodity is known just as gold.

Gold is currently priced at $457 per ounce, a 16-year high. One of the factors that contribute to this record price is the environmental issue concerning the Newmont Mining Corp. Newmont is the world’s largest gold harvesting firm. It is based in Denver, Colorado.

Newmont earlier in spring this year has been charged by the locals of Sulawesi, Indonesia for polluting the Buyat Bay with arsenic and mercury based compound. The locals claim that Newmont’s activities are affecting their lives – cases of health problems and apparent decline in the fish stock have occurred there. The mining corporation however has flatly denied this by citing its own studies on the matter.

As the episode developed, five high ranking officers from Newmont were arrested by the Indonesian police under the charge of polluting. This action however has been criticized by the firm and the US government as inappropriate. In spite of mounting evidence of against the firm, the arrest is indeed irregular. The Newmont personnel, of who were detained for roughly a month, were later released.

A few weeks after the arrest, an independent report initiated by the Indonesian government confirms that the firm has polluted the environment. As a result, the Indonesian government is filling a lawsuit against the corporation.

Despite report of the level of mercury in the affected area is ten times higher than the allowed in the US, Newmont might be able to get away with this if the mining firm can prove that it has broken no environmental law. Regretfully, this is possible since in most cases, Newmont has not broken any Indonesian law. In fact, the contamination level itself is still within international standard. This shows how Indonesian environmental law is frustratingly weak. Nevertheless, the lawsuit itself is enough to hurt Newmont.

Unfortunately, the litigation is a two-edge knife. If the litigation is successful, there are concerns that foreign investment in Indonesia may decrease. Yet, it is encouraging to see the new Indonesian government is pursuing what is right instead of bending under the pressure of a multinational firm.

Categories
ASEAN Politics & government

[450] Of ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos

An ASEAN summit will be held this week in Vientiane, Laos. ASEAN, of course is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Prior to the summit, a few issues have already been flying around in the air.

One of them is the situation in southern Thailand. A few member countries have expressed concerns on the recent development but the Thai premier has warned that he will consider any enquiry has a sign of intrusion of Thailand’s internal problem. It is clear that Thailand is eager to go through the meeting without anyone mentioning the condition in the southern Thai states.

The main agenda of the summit however will be the discussion of free trade deal with Australia and New Zealand. It will be interesting to see how things will work out and how Malaysia will respond to it. Currently, all member countries have agreed to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), though the timetable towards reduced trade barriers varies from country to country. Malaysia in particular is supposed to eliminate the tariffs on foreign automobiles by 2005 but the government still maintains the tariffs on imported vehicles.

At the same time, it is interesting to note that if the free trade is signed, a good will probably go to the US from Australia via Singapore and then back again without being taxed, or at least being minimally taxed. This is because both Australia and Singapore have a free trade agreement with the US. An ASEAN-Australia FTA will complete the link.

Another issue that will be discussed on the table in Laos, surprisingly, at least to me, is the plan to increase the use of renewable energy. It is encouraging to see ASEAN is tackling the issue of energy together while heading to the right direction in matter concerning the economy and the environment.

The summit starts tomorrow. Let’s hope the progress towards one more free trade deal will go uninterrupted.

Categories
Economics

[449] Of trade war, redux

The trade war has reached a new level. It all started when the US imposed anti-dumping taxes on various foreign goods for the relatively few interest groups’ benefit. Right now, the trade war includes a substantial amount of goods; from steel to textile, from apple to shrimp. And currently, the symbols of the ongoing trade war are the American Boeing and European Airbus.

The US is digging its own grave and unfortunately, it’s dragging the world with it. This trade war needs to stop sooner rather than later. The majority in the Congress need to realize that the well-being of the few is not as important at the well-being of the many. If this squabbling continues to head for the worst, things are going to look grim for both the producers and the consumers.

With greater trade restrictions, the market size for the producers will get smaller as prices artificially increase. Some of the local producers may benefit from this restriction however but consumers on the other hand will have limited choice due to the higher price. The price of foreign goods has already been forced upward by the weakening dollar.

Things look grim but one of the most watched economic indices, the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence indicates a slight increase. This might be caused by the current shopping season. I suspect in a couple of months, consumer confidence will fall due to trade war that is becoming more visible each day.

Somehow, I think the US is not the place to be in the near future, if one is concerned with its economic environment. Aside from all these, with the issue of social security essentially remains unsolved, the US is a ticking time bomb.

Categories
Photography

[448] Of it’s only natural

Bad, knowing it will get worse

It’s the first snow of the season and it fell on November 24th. It fell all day long and almost two days after the first snow, the snowflakes are still outside.