Villagers blockade VICO's road in E. Kalimantan

Some 30 villagers have blockaded a road leading to the project of oil and gas firm VICO Indonesia in East Kalimantan in protest of alleged pollution caused by the company?s oil mining activities, local daily Kaltim Post reported on Wednesday.

The police dispersed the demonstration on Tuesday afternoon, several hours after the protesters blockaded the road in Muara Java District.

Some of the protesters, who came from different villages, negotiated with VICO?s executives on Tuesday in the presence of local government officials.

In the negotiation the villagers said they wanted out of court settlement. But, VICO?s executives told them the company had surrendered the case to state oil and gas Pertamina which would follow legal procedures to solve their dispute.

Another group of villagers had earlier threatened to blockade roads in another area in East Kalimantan which were used by VICO as its transportation routes.

Meanwhile, East Kalimantan police chief SY Wenas had said earlier the police were ready to protect the assets of VICO and other oil miners in the province.

VICO said recently there were several potential threats to its operations including blockade by local villagers, labor issues and strike, sabotage, and embezzelement or stealing of assets. (*)