Total sends shrimp farmer and two governmental officials to Thailand

French oil and gas company Total Indonesie would send a shrimp farmer from Anggana district, Kutai regency, East Kalimantan and two officials of the regency and provincial administrations to Thailand to study fish farming and mangrove conservation, Samarinda Post reported.

Company communication director Nurul Fazrie said in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan on Thursday that the program was part of the company's concerns with environmental protection at the Mahakam delta.

In the first stage, the company would only send the three persons, but it would a larger number of people to Thailand for the same program, Nurul said.

In Thailand, the farmer, named Mangkana and the two governmental officials will study shrimp and fish farming technique without damaging mangrove forest.

Total announced the program after it was blasted by environmentalists for polluting the Mahakam delta with crude oil spills on April 29.

Nurul also said the company would sponsor a one-day seminar and a three-day workshop sometime in June and July this year on land utilization at the Mahakam delta. (*)