Pertamina criticized for oil-leak chaos

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Cilacap

At least 3,000 square meters of swampy area and farmland in Karangbawang, Cilacap Regency, have been seriously contaminated by diesel oil leaking from a large pipe belonging to the state oil company Pertamina's distribution unit in Cilacap, Central Java.

The oil leak that was discovered last Saturday has killed all the crops and flora on the farmland, as well as thousands of fish.

Local farmers said they were holding negotiations with Pertamina's local office on financial compensation for their plants and paddy fields damaged by the oil.

They said they detected the oil leak last Saturday but Pertamina's technicians only arrived on Monday.

"Pertamina has acted too late and so far, no action has been taken to repair the pipe," said Ratno, who found the oil leakage when he was fishing in the area on Saturday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Pertamina technicians had yet to repair the leak because the pipe was buried 1.5 meters underground.

I Gusti Bagus Wisnu, spokesman for Pertamina's distribution unit, said the leaking pipe was part of the distribution line to Padalarang and Bandung, West Java.

"But the leak does not affect the distribution of diesel oil to Padalarang because Pertamina still has another pipe for the same purpose," he said.

He said the technicians needed a week to repair the leaking pipe because they had to block it first from water inundation before soldering the leakages.

He added that Pertamina was taking measures to minimize the damage to the environment.