Owner of 'Natuna Sea' tanker to compensate environmental destruction
Tuesday, October 10 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
Natuna Sea Tanker Pacific Management Limited, that operates a tanker that broke down and spilled crude in Belakang Padang waters off Sambu island in Batam, has expressed their willingness to compensate fishermen for the environmental destruction the tanker has caused.
Batam mayor Nazief Soesila Dharma said his party had contacted the company's management and was told that the company would pay the compensation that would amount to billions of rupiah.
"The value of the compensation is still being calculated. What sure is that it could reach billions of rupiah," he said over the weekend.
The head of the sea port of the Batam Autority, Insan Kamil, revealed earlier that the Natuna Sea tanker with a tonnage of 90,000 dead weight tons hit rocks and sank in the Belakan Padang waters.
"The left side of the Natuna Sea tanker was ripped, and 9,000 tons of crude it carried spilled into the Belakang Pada waters," he said.
Nazief said the oil spill had caused damages to a number of fish catching equipment owned by local fishermen in Belakang Padang, Terong island and Sambu island.
Because of the oil spill, many local fishermen could not work and this could endanger their daily life, he added.
According to the head of the Belakang Padang Fishermen Cooperative, M. Ali, around 95 fishermen in Belakang Padang and Terong Island could not yet do their daily activities because of the oil spill. (*)