Pertamina oil spill in South Sumatra damages farming land

Oil spills from Pertamina's oil tanks located at exploration and production site in the Musi Block in Lubuk Linggau, South Sumatra have seriously damaged the local residents' farming areas, Sriwijaya Post reported on Wednesday.

The daily said a number of villagers had set up temporary shelters to stay in the area in a protest against the state owned oil and gas company's lack of response to cope with their problem.

In their protests, the local residents demanded Pertamina to hire them to carry out exploration activities as compensation, because their heavily polluted farming areas could no longer be used for farming.

Abi Yuwno, Pertamina's local official acknowledged that the oil spills from its oil receiving tanks had damaged some parts of the local residents' plantation areas. But he said that the company could not immediately settle the problem because the repair would require a lot of funds.

In response to the villagers' demand, he said that Pertamina would coordinate with the local government to find the best solution to meet the villagers' request. (*)