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Article

19 Oct 2022

Author:
Erwida Maulia, Nikkei Asia

Indonesia: Locals attribute struggle for livelihood & health problems to nickel processing plants for electric vehicle battery

"Dirty metals for clean cars: Indonesian nickel could be key to EV battery industry", 19 October 2022

[…]

Their homes, along with the few dozen others that make up the fishing hamlet, stood against a backdrop of towering cranes and billowing white smoke from the chimneys of Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), a sprawling nickel processing complex in Central Sulawesi province that hosts an array of Chinese companies and their partners, led by stainless steel giant Tsingshan Holding Group.

[…] Residents of the fishing village often complain of respiratory problems, blaming soot from the coal unloaded from barges to supply IMIP's power plants. […].

"The dust from the coal causes eye irritation, coughing, breathing difficulties," Sirajudin said. His fellow villagers echoed these concerns.

[…]

The fishermen also increasingly struggle to make a living. […]

Now, the water under the hamlet's stilt houses has not just turned murky, but often becomes so hot -- "almost boiling" -- that fish are driven away […].

[…]

The residents blame the hot wastewater that spills out of the IMIP complex.

[…]

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