Chevron facing legal suit in Riau

PT Chevron Pasific Indonesia (CPI) is facing a legal case filed by a local non-governmental organization (NGO), which claimed that three oil and gas wells and one gathering station owned by Chevron were located at the conservation area of Sumatran elephants in the protected forests of Balairaja, Bengkalis regency of Riau province.

?We?ve filed a legal case against Chevron in Dumai court,? said Tommy FM Manungkalit, the secretary of Yayasan Riau Madani, an environmental NGO in Pekanbaru.

He said that CPI had never got a license from the ministry of forestry to use the land site.

He also noted that his NGO would also file suit against Balai Besar Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam Riau (Riau Agency for natural conservation or locally known as BBKSDA) and directorate general of forest protection and natural conservation (PHKA) at the forestry ministry.

?The forestry ministry should be responsible on this. We demand that CPI should close the wells and the gathering station,? he was quoted by Kompas in Pekanbaru on Tuesday.

PT CPI Corporate Communication Manager Dony Indra in Jakarta had confirmed the legal case had been filed against CPI. ?But we want to make it clear that CPI has always complied with all prevailing regulations in implementing all of operations,? he said.

According to him, the operation of CPI in Rokan Block, which include Balairaja, was started in the middle of 1930s. First well was drilled in 1969, while Balairaja forest was determined as conservation and protection forests in 1986.

?The operation of all existing wells that have been in production have got a license from the directorate general of forest protection and natural conservation,? said Dony.

Tommy pointed out that first court trial had been conducted by an assembly of judges led by Paul Marpaung. But representatives from the directorate general and CPI were not present. ?The only one present at the trial was Putra Per, a legal staff at Riau BBKSDA,? he added.

The judges asked for the presence of representatives from those charged in the court, he said.

Putra Per could not be reached for comments on the legal case, as reportedly he was in Bogor. (*)