JOB Pertamina-Medco halts operation of Tiaka field in Tomori Block again

The Joint Operating Body (JOB) Pertamina-Medco Tomori, the operator of Tomori Block in Luwuk, Central Sulawesi, has halted the operation of Tiaka Field since mid Monday after a group of local people launched another ugly protest and vandalized production facilities at Tiaka Island.

This is the second time the operator had to halt operation of the field within just one week. Production facility at Tiaka Field just resumed operation on Sunday, after being halted the prior Saturday, following ugly protest from the group of local people.

Gde Pradnyana, Deputy Head for Public Affairs, Security and Formality at the upstream oil and gas regulator BPMIGAS, said all workers at the site have been evacuated. ?At present, the production facility is being guarded by police and military units until situation returns to normal,? he said.

The protesters on mid Monday came to the site again with sharp knives and molotov or cocktail bombs and damaged facilities at the site.

Morowali police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Suhirman said the death toll from a clash near an oil well on Tiaka Island in Central Sulawesi had increased to two. "One was killed in a gunfight, the other died due to severe bleeding," he said on Tuesday.

Suhirman added the crime site had been vacated and all employees and security guards had been evacuated. Police are standing on guard to anticipate another round of clash. (godang)