Riau villagers end Caltex blockade peacefully<\/p>\n
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau<\/p>\n
Around 400 villagers ended on Friday a five-day blockade of an
\noil field in Riau province belonging to U.S. company PT Caltex
\nPacific Indonesia after local police interceded in the dispute.<\/p>\n
The protest started on Monday with the villagers demanding
\nroad improvements in Pinang, close to the site of Caltex's oil
\nfield in Rokan Hilir regency.<\/p>\n
\"The blockade by local residents was to put pressure on Caltex
\nto improve the Pinang road. But we don't accept their method,\"
\nspokesman of the company Hanafi Kadir told The Jakarta Post in
\nthe Riau capital of Pekanbaru.<\/p>\n
However, he said the protesters removed the blockade on the
\nPinang field on Friday after police moved to disperse them by
\narranging negotiations between their community leaders and the
\ncompany.<\/p>\n
Rokan Hilir Police chief Comr. Erwan was quoted as telling the
\nprotesting villagers that Caltex would not be willing to
\nnegotiate with them if the company remained under pressure.<\/p>\n
Hanafi said Caltex would consider the demand from the
\nvillagers after its operations in the Pinang field had returned
\nto normal.<\/p>\n
The company's 24 oil wells there resumed operations later on
\nFriday after the protest ended, he added.<\/p>\n
During the protest, residents from Kubu village had ordered
\nworkers at the oil field to stop work and abandon the area.<\/p>\n
The protesters accused Caltex of failing to make good on its
\npromise to rebuild the 40-kilometer road, which is an important
\ntransportation route for locals.<\/p>\n
The road linking Simpang Kubu and Banko had seriously been
\ndamaged due to floods. The damage was also blamed on large
\ntrucks, which regularly pass the road to transport palm oil and
\nother plantation products.<\/p>\n
Caltex said it had actually started road improvements in
\nPinang, but later stopped the project after it faced certain
\nproblems, including the alleged blackmailing of workers by local
\nthugs.<\/p>\n
Hanafi also said that some spare parts of heavy equipment
\nowned by Caltex's partner were stolen by local villagers during
\nthe road improvement project.<\/p>\n
\"If the spare parts are not returned, how can we resume the
\nproject?\" he added.<\/p>\n
He claimed his company had improved the overall infrastructure
\nin Riau by building roads, schools and a sports stadium, as well
\nas providing other assistance to locals.<\/p>\n
However, he said there were indications that these
\ncontributions were often misused for the personal gain of certain
\npeople or groups.<\/p>\n
The spokesman said the five-day blockade caused Caltex, a unit
\nof U.S.-based Chevron Texaco Corp., to lose around 7,200 barrels
\nof crude oil production.<\/p>\n
The company is the country's largest crude oil producer, with
\nan average production of around 630,000 barrels per day.<\/p>\n
Similar blockades had taken place frequently at Caltex's oil
\nfields, disrupting their production in Riau. Protesters have
\ncomplained about the few benefits they gained from the extraction
\nof natural resources in their area.<\/p>\n
Although new regional autonomy laws were implemented in 2000,
\ngranting local governments greater control over revenues from
\nnatural resources, critics say much of this money is lost to
\ncorruption, leaving little to improve the welfare of villagers
\nthroughout the nation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/riau-villagers-end-caltex-blockade-peacefully-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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