Indonesian President: prioritized Montara oil spill`s compensation for fishermen, farmers

Antara 5 Aug 10;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would give priority to compensate fishermen and farmers experiencing the direct impact of Montara oil spill in Timor sea, East Nusa Tenggara.

The president said so during the National Meeting in Bogor Palace, West Java, on Thursday.

Yudhoyono added the National Team for Ocean Oil Spill Emergency Situations had reached several progress in its effort to claim for compensation to the local people.

Minister of Transportation as well as the chairman of the National Team for Ocean Oil Spill Emergency Situations, Freddy Numberi, said representative from Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta had met and exchanged data related to the case.

Numberi added while waiting for the result of internal meetings of parties responsible to the Montara oil-mill Indonesia would continuously renew its data about the contamination in the Timor sea as well as the number of material loss caused from it.

"We are planning to claim not only about the environmental damage but also the cost of restoring the natural resources there," said the minister.

Last August 2009, Montara oil field which was developed by the Norwegian and Bermudan-owned Seadrill company and operated by PTTEP Australasia (a unit of Thai state-owned oil and gas company) was blowout leaving a massive spill of 500,000 liters, or 1,200 barrels, of crude oil covered the Timor Sea everyday. The oil spill also flowed to the waters around Rote Ndao district and Sawu sea especially the areas around Sabu Raijua district and Southern coastal area of Timor Island.

Rote Ndao, District Head Lens Haning had frequently expressed their complaints relating to the pollution such as shrinking yields of local fishermen? fish catch and difficulty faced by local residents on Rote Island in cultivating seaweed because of polluted sea waters.

Rote Ndao district head also said the oil spill had also polluted around 16,420 km in square meters of sea waters of Timor Sea which also covered the Indonesia?s economic exclusive zone.

The damaged sea ecosystem and death of sea biota had also cause a drop in the income of local seaweed farmers and fishermen.

The oil spill, seaweed farmers in Rote Ndao could produce at least 7,334 tons of seaweeds per year. In 2009, after the pollution-related oil spill, their production drastically dropped to 1,512 tons and till June 2010, the production of seaweed only stood at 341.4 tons.(*)