Pertamina to challenge legal suit filed over oil spills
Monday, July 31 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
State oil and gas company Pertamina will challenge the legal suit recently filed by a resident in Jambi over the oil spills resulting from the leakage in one its crude pipes in the province.
Waspodo, the field manager of the state oil company's joint operation body with its production contractor Gulf Resources, said in Jambi on Saturday that he had several indications that Heddy Simanjuntak had illegally occupied land owed by the state oil company.
Waspodo also charged that the leakage in the oil pipeline was caused by Simanjuntak's car.
Simanjuntak recently filed a legal suit at the local court against Pertamina over the pollution caused by the oil spills coming from the leaked pipeline near his residential area. He demanded a compensation of Rp 95 million from Pertamina.
A pipeline, which is used to transmit crude oil from Gulf Resource's oil wells to the distribution center, leaked recently, causing massive oil spills in area. Simanjuntak said that the pollution caused by the oil spills had damaged his farming lands. (*)