VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia has been chosen to host the Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 4) to the Minamata Convention in 2021, Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar stated. "During the second plenary on Nov 25, 2019, at 6:20 p.m. local time, it was decided that Indonesia will be the host of the COP 4 to the Minamata Convention in 2021 that is planned in Nusa Dua, Bali," Bakar, who was attending the COP 3 in Geneva, Switzerland, noted in a statement on Tuesday. Indonesia’s appointment to be the next host of the Minamata Convention meeting in 2021 was deemed crucial since Indonesia also faced the problem of mercury pollution, with high complexity, she remarked. "Indonesia has paid special attention to the issue since 2015 when the president was visiting Maluku," she noted. Illegal, small-scale gold mining activities have caused the mercury problem in Indonesia, she added. "We are aware of several problems and victims. Hence, during a limited cabinet meeting in 2017, the president instructed to tackle the problem and prevent the impacts of mercury and the Minamata disease outbreak," she remarked. The minister also echoed the public’s high concern over this case. "On the whole, this is crucial, as the President Jokowi administration is determined to solve environmental problems. Indonesia will benefit from the international event to be held in Indonesia," she remarked. The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on mercury in Geneva in January 2013 and adopted on October 10, 2013, in Kumamoto, Japan. Article 3 of the Minamata Convention addresses sources of supply and trade in mercury, laying down measures on primary mercury mining, stocks of mercury or mercury compounds, excess mercury from the decommissioning of chlor-alkali plants, as well as on mercury exports and imports.//antara.