PTTEP asked to start paying compensation this year

The Indonesian government has asked PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) to begin paying the compensation for damages caused by an oil spill in the Timor Sea in installment.

Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said in Jakarta on Friday that the government had formally asked the Thai oil and gas company to pay Rp 2.3 trillion (about US$262.2 million) in compensation for the damage caused by oil spill, as a result of a blowout at the Montara platform off the northwest coast of Australia on Aug. 21 last year.

The spill affected nine Indonesian regencies around the Timor Sea, reportedly polluting 70,341 hectares of sea areas.

?We have demanded compensation of Rp 2.3 trillion. The Thai company will verify the compensation claim,? he said, adding the Indonesian government insisted marine life and coral reefs, along with mangrove ecosystems, would need two and 15 years to recover, but the PTFEP said it would need only 10 years.

Freddy?s said earlier that PTTEP Australasia had agreed to pay $1 million in compensation for direct impacts of the oil spills to the local fishermen. But the government insisted the company should pay $5 million.

The government has earlier demanded Rp 23 trillion in compensation for the direct impacts of the oil spills to the local fishermen and for the environmental damages caused by the oil spills. (*)