Firms working on oil spill

BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan: State oil and gas company PT Pertamina has joined hands with 15 other companies to clean up an oil spill on the east coast of the city.

The oil spill happened two weeks ago, and it is expected that the sludge, which has covered waters off Balikpapan, could be cleaned up within four days, said Sofyan A.S, a senior official at Balikpapan Environmental Impact Management Agency, on Thursday.

Some 150 people have been deployed every day since last week to shovel the sludge into sacks and dispose of it at an undisclosed location for reprocessing, said Sofyan. -- JP