Conoco offers radar facility to monitor sand theft in Riau

Conoco Indonesia, one of Pertamina?s production sharing contractors in oil and gas production, has offered Riau to use its radar facilities free of charge to help the local government to monitor a growing activity of sand theft, Kompas daily reported on Monday.

Aparaini Rasyad, the governor?s assistant for development on social affairs, said in Pekanbaru over the weekend that the offer was delivered by Conoco during a recent meeting with the province?s top officials including Governor Saleh Jasit.

?Although, it is free of charge, the offer should be further discussed with related parties,? he said.

He said that the radar, built by Conoco on an island near Batam to monitor the undersea pipe network, linking the giant gas field in Natuna islands to Singapore, a has monitoring capability of 80 miles. With such capability, the radar can be used to screen rampant sand theft in Natuna, Batam and other Riau islands, he added.

Aparaini said that before receiving the offer, the local government should be sure first that it should provide a reliable staff to handle the monitoring job and then prepared what kind of measures that would be taken on the sand thieves, who usually use vessels to carry out the activities. (*)