House calls on govt to reject Lapindo drilling plan
Thursday, February 4 2016 - 02:08 PM WIB
The House of Representatives? Commission VII which among others oversees energy affairs has officially asked the government to reject the plan of PT Lapindo Brantas Inc, which is linked to politically-powerful Bakrie family, to resume drilling at wells in Sidoarjo, West Java.
?I?ve been to the drilling site (proposed by Lapindo Brantas) in Tanggulangin. The area is prone to disaster. It is thus impossible to drill there,? Commission?s Deputy Head Gus Irawan Pasaribu said, while reading out the conclusions of the hearing between the Commission and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources on Wednesday.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said said he accepted the Commission? request. ?We accept the conclusion of the hearing with the House that there shouldn?t be drilling in Tanggulangin,? he said.
Lapindo plans to drill the Tanggulangin (TGA)-6 well at the TGA-1 well pad, and the Tanggulangin (TGA)-10 well at TGA-2 well pad in Tanggulangin, which are located 2.5 km from the old wells which caused disastrous mudflow incident a decade ago. The mudflow incident inundated thousands of houses, forcing families to leave the area.
Director General of Oil and Gas IGN Wiratmaja earlier said Lapindo has followed all necessary procedures in pushing ahead with its drilling plan. The Work Program & Budget (WP&B) for the drilling plan has been approved by SKK Migas and the firm has also secured permits from the local government. The only permit which it has yet to obtain is the work safety and spud in permit from the Directorate General of Oil and Gas.
Wiratmaja said on Jan. 13 the ministry would involve experts to study the drilling plan before giving it a go-ahead.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon