Unocal in agreement with local people
JAKARTA (JP): Oil and gas company PT Unocal Indonesia, has agreed to provide community development programs for the villagers of Marangkayu district, East Kalimantan as part of a plan to settle the environmental dispute between the villagers and the company.
Unocal said in a statement on Friday that the company and state oil and gas company Pertamina had reached the agreement with the provincial council on Thursday.
The meeting between the companies and the council, which was also attended by the province's police chief and military commander, was held in the provincial capital of Samarinda following the police action on Sunday to end the fourteen-day blockade by the villagers of the company's facilities in Marangkayu.
The villagers had been blockading the channel which is used by Unocal to send supplies to its offshore oil rigs, to pressure the company to pay compensation for the alleged pollution of the villagers' farmland.
The police broke up the blockade on Sunday in an action during which police officers reportedly opened fire on villagers with rubber bullets.
During Thursday's meeting with the council, Unocal said that it, Pertamina and the council had agreed that a committee of community leaders from the villages of Semangkok and Sebuntal in Marangkayu, should decide which community projects will be financed by Unocal.
"This is exactly the kind of long-term partnership that we want. We are not interested in short-term fixes that benefit only a few individuals
"Local community leaders are the right people to decide which projects get funded to ensure that the needs of the entire community are met," said David Stangor, Unocal's general manager in Balikpapan.
It remained unclear, however, whether the villagers would accept the agreement reached by Unocal, Pertamina and the council.
Unocal, a subsidiary of American energy giant Unocal Corp, whose operations in Indonesia are centered in East Kalimantan, is known for its pioneering work in deepwater oil development. The company recently said it had allocated US$1.5 billion over the five years from 1997 to 2002 to develop the country's oil and gas resources.
Caltex
Separately, oil and gas company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia said in a statement that the villagers of Kopar, Riau, who were demanding jobs from the company and its contractors, continued on Friday to blockade the Rangau water treatment plant and drilling rigs owned by the company.
The demonstrators had also illegally seized some equipment and seven vehicles owned by the company.
"An employee, who was performing routine checks on equipment meters in the Petani field, eight kilometers away from Kopar, was briefly held yesterday (Thursday) but was later released," Caltex said.
The company also said that demonstrators had violated the "basic human rights" of its workers by barring them from entering and leaving the water treatment plant.
Discussions between the demonstrators and the company, facilitated by the police and local authorities, had thus far failed to bear fruit as the demonstrators were insisting on immediate employment by Caltex's contractors.
Caltex said its contractors had few jobs to offer to the villagers at present and that they had actually already prioritized the locals in their recruitment programs.
Caltex noted that the villagers of Bangko, who had also been blockading two company drilling rigs starting last week, had put an end to their action and released the rigs' crews.
But, the company said, it was still engaged in tough negotiations over their demands for jobs.
"Caltex's position continues to be in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Republic of Indonesia and the company will not negotiate under pressure, threats, intimidation or other illegal acts," the company said.
Caltex, whose operations are centered on Riau, accounts for more than one half of the country's around 1.3 million barrels per day of oil output. (jsk)