Again, residents seize Caltex?s vehicles as demand turned down
Thursday, July 5 2001 - 03:19 AM WIB
The Bengkalis police confirmed the incident, saying that the residents seized nine vehicles used by Caltex and its contractors to support the oil production activities in the area as the oil giant refused to meet their demand.
The seizure has taken place for seven days but there is no indication that the residents will release the vehicles, Media Indonesia reported on Thursday.
According to the police, the local residents had demanded Caltex to pay a compensation for the damages caused by the oil company?s drilling activities on their houses. The residents claimed that about 104 houses near the exploration site, suffered serious damages due to the vibrating drilling system used by the oil company in the production activities.
The company?s spokesman Poedyo Oetomo said that Caltex refused to pay the compensation because most of the 104 houses were located outside the operation area.
He said that the company had asked to the local police to improve the security so that the protest would not disrupt oil production activities.
Caltex, the country?s largest has become the target of local residents? resentment within the past three years. The company said that disruptions to the company?s oil production facilities had resulted in a loss of 30,000 barrels per day last year. This year the loss in the production due to disruptions has reached about 40,000 bpd.
In the middle of June, some 20 and 30 job-seeking youth were involved in one of the longest blockades Caltex had experienced. The youth, who demanded the company to provide them with jobs, had also been responsible for turning off power supply to the fields and cutting 10-inch operational pipeline.(*)