Fishermen reject Premier Oil gas project

Fishermen in Ujungpangkah subdistrict in Gresik district, East Java, reject a gas drilling project planned by Premier Oil in the area on grounds that it would kill the shrimps and other type of fish, the Kompas daily reported on Monday.

The fishermen said that the killing of the shrimps would greatly reduce their catch and income.

They said that since Premier Oil started its survey activity (for the gas project) many shrimps had been killed.

The protest was expressed during a dialogue held by the local youth organization.

But environmental expert from the Hangtuan University Surabaya Noechman, who's one of the speaker in the dialogue, said that the decline in the number of shrimp catch was not due to the survey activity of Premier Oil but was caused by a wrong shrimp farming technique.

But fishermen Zainal Abidin rejected this theory, pointing out that it was not only the shrimps, which were dying, but also other type for fishes. (*)