PT Arun in Aceh demanded to build fortress to prevent erosion

Forkla, the organization for environmental victims in Aceh, has called on the country's major liquefied natural gas producer PT Arun to build a fortress along the coastal area of Ujong Blang village to prevent erosion of the soil into the sea, Serambi Indonesia reported on Monday.

The organization said that PT Arun should also dredge the local sea so that operation of the company's tankers would not really damage the activities the local fishermen.

Forkla complained that most of major companies operating in the province had yet to pay attention to their communities and environment, saying that the people near major industrial projects in the province are mostly still living under poverty.

"Many people near major industrial projects still stay in slump and live under poverty line," the chairman of the organization, Murdhani said. He added that many community development projects agreed by the local industries did not run as expected.

The program initiated by PT AAF to improve the welfare of salt farmers in Bluke village in the district of Teubai, for example, has been stopped, he said. (*)