Residents block access road to Pertamina's Bekasi oil well

Residents of Kedungjaya village in the Babelan district of Bekasi, West Java again blocked the access road to Pertamina?s Babelan oil well in the area to protest the state owned oil company's refusal to repair the road which has been seriously damaged due to the heavy traffics of company's trucks, Kompas reported on Tuesday.

At least 30 trucks were barred from entering the oil well. But the residents later allowed them to pass the blockade but they prohibited them from leaving the area until there was a statement from Pertamina that the company would meet the resident's demand.

"Bekasi regent met the villagers later on the day and had a dialogue. The regent supported the villagers' protest,? Syahid Kartubi, the chairman of the Tim Peduli Masyarakat Bekasi non-governmental organization.

In June 2002, the residents blocked the road for at least 24 hours. At least 31 oil trucks could not enter the oil well due to the protest. At that time, the residents also demanded Pertamina to repair the damaged road.

During the Monday protest, aside from asking Pertamina to repair the damaged road, the residents also demanded the company to pay compensation for the noises caused by the heavy equipment and oil trucks passing the village.

Meanwhile Endang Suhendar, Pertamina?s supervisor for West Java operation, said that the state owned oil and gas company would have no choice but to close the oil wells if the protests continued.

"If the protest continues, the well operation will be stopped because the capacity of oil storage at the field is limited," he was quoted as saying by Koran Tempo. (*)