Farmers protest against police<\/p>\n
Wahyuana, Bekasi<\/p>\n
Buni Bhakti villagers in Babelan district demanded on Thursday
\nthat Bekasi Police release two villagers, Bahrol Alam and Holili,
\nwho have been under arrest since Saturday for hijacked five
\ntanker trucks belonging to state oil company Pertamina.<\/p>\n
The villagers protested the procedure of the arrest, saying
\nthe police did not issue an arrest order. The arrest order was
\nonly received by the Buni Bakti village chief Hardi Suhardi on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Bekasi Police detectives chief Adj. Comr. Yudi AB Sinhale
\ndeclined to comment. He only said the two were arrested for
\nviolating Article 335 of Criminal Code on disorderly conduct.<\/p>\n
Bahrol and Holili have been active in protests against
\nPertamina's exploration in the area. They were arrested after a
\nprotest on Friday in which they hijacked five trucks at
\nKedungjaya village near the Pertamina's Tambun-A well and kept
\nthem in a compound of a house that has hosted dialogs between
\nPertamina and locals.<\/p>\n
Residents said they kept the vehicles to make Pertamina
\nofficials guarantee that there would be no more accidents at
\nPertamina's 16 oil wells in the area.<\/p>\n
A 16,000-liter tanker truck exploded on June 9 when loading
\noil at Tambun-A well. The explosion forced locals to take refuge
\nfor several days and 100 other trucks had to stop operation.<\/p>\n
Locals were traumatized by the explosion, moreover heat and
\noil seepage have also affected their rice fields. Immense heat
\ngenerated by gases at the well also forced local residents to
\nleave the village for a month in March.<\/p>\n
Residents say they have yet to receive compensation from
\nPertamina although the company had earlier promised to pay a
\ntotal of Rp 2 billion (US$212,766) in compensation in late May.<\/p>\n
Pertamina general manager for West Java operations Bambang
\nBusono confirmed the incident.<\/p>\n
\"The two suspects were arrested because they led the people to
\nhijack Pertamina's vehicles,\" he said by phone. \"We have provided
\nRp 2.1 billion to compensate around 800 farmers in five villages
\nfor crop failure, namely Pantai Hurip, Muara Bhakti, Samodra
\nJaya, Hurip Jaya and Buni Bhakti. So far, only Buni Bhakti
\nvillagers have yet to receive the money.\"<\/p>\n
Bambang also hoped the police would release the two soon.<\/p>\n
Farmers have experienced crop failure since Pertamina started
\noperations in the area last year. Environmentalists have reported
\nfinding unacceptable levels of heavy metals, such as chromium,
\nzinc, cobalt and lead, in the rivers flowing through the area.<\/p>\n
The Babelan oil field, located 25 kilometers north of Bekasi
\nand 40 kilometers northeast of Jakarta, has estimated reserves of
\n424 million barrels of oil and 3.34 trillion cubic feet of gas.<\/p>\n
The presence of the oil field stands out in contrast to the
\npoverty-stricken villages that surround it, with villagers being
\nentirely dependent on their rice harvests for survival.<\/p>\n
\"It doesn't feel safe anymore to live in Buni Bhakti because
\nof the accidents that have occurred at Pertamina's operation
\nsite. There was the exploding truck, oil seepage and we had to
\ntake refuge because of the heat from the well,\" said villager
\nChairul Anwar.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/farmers-protest-against-police-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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