Activities at Babelan oil well returns to normal

Activities at Pertamina's oil well in Babelan, Bekasi have retuned to normal after local residents agreed to end their blockade at the main road leading to the well, Kompas reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper reported that the local residents finally agreed to end the blockade after Pertamina promised to repair the damages of the road caused by its oil trucks. Pertamina also promised to further study the residents' demand to get compensation from the cracks on their houses due to the impact from the passing trucks,"

The residents from Kedung and Muara Bhakti villages blocked the main road to Pertamina's oil well in Babelan on Monday to prevent oil trucks from passing the road. The blockade had caused a total halt in the transportation of crude oil from the well to the Balongan refinery plant, West Java.

The residents said that Pertamina diverted the transportation of its crude oil through the road in the two villages without prior consent. Besides damaging the road, the passing oil trucks had also caused cracks on their houses. (*)