PRESS RELEASE - Unocal Indonesia company reaches agreement with East Kalimantan council on Marangkayu issue
Friday, October 13 2000 - 09:00 AM WIB
Yesterday a team from Unocal Indonesia and Pertamina met with members of Parliament at Samarinda and reached agreement on a plan for moving forward on community development issues in the Santan area. Which also attended by Kapolda of East Kalimantan and Komandan Korem 091/ASN. The open meeting was called to discuss ongoing community concerns following the break-up of the blockade around the Company's Santan Terminal on Sunday.
DPRD, Pertamina and Unocal Indonesia agreed that a committee of community opinion leaders from the villages of Semangko and Sebuntal in the Marangkayu Kecamatan (District) should decide which community projects will be funded by Unocal Indonesia.
"This is exactly the kind of long-term partnership with the community that we want. We are not interested in short-term fixes that benefit only a few individuals. Local community leaders are the right people to decide which projects get funded to ensure that the needs of the entire community are met," said David Stangor, General Manager, Unocal Indonesia in Balikpapan.
The blockade arose because of concerns among some members of the community about environmental compensation. Despite two formal negotiation sessions and many informal meetings the company was unable to reach agreement with the demonstrators.
On Sunday, October 8th the police broke-up the fourteen-day old blockade around the Unocal Santan Terminal. Several demonstrators suffered minor injuries and were treated and released according to Dr. Joseph Joanes, a physician working at the Unocal Santan Medical Clinic. One man who suffered a leg wound was observed overnight at the clinic and released the next day according to Dr. Joanes.
Unocal Indonesia is a production-sharing contractor to Pertamina and has operated in Indonesia since 1968. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Unocal Corporation, a U.S. corporation based in El Segundo, California.
For more information:
Samsulystio, Kepala Humas Unocal Indonesia, Balikpapan, Tel: 0542 - 543519
Erwin Lebe, Kepala Humas Unocal Indonesia, Jakarta, Tel: 5798 4240. (*)