Antara News, Monday, November 15, 2010 18:55 WIB
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The People`s Coalition for Fishery Justice (Kiara) regrets the decision of PTTEP (PTT Exploration and Production Australasia) to reject the compensation claim filed by Indonesia for the oil spill in the Timor Sea, a apokesman said.
"It`s regrettable PTTEP has twice refused the claim amounting to US$2.4 billion presented by Indonesia for the oil spill in the Timor Sea," Kiara Secretary General Riza Damanik said here Monday.
Indonesia must not keep quiet about the matter but follow it up, he said.
He said, since the beginning, documents issued by the Australian authorities had indicated that the Montara oil field leakage had polluted Indonesian waters.
Indonesia and Australia should come to an understanding that the Timor Sea had been contaminated by oil from the Montara oil field operated by PTTEP, he said.
"An anticipative step must be prepared to sue PTTEP, including canceling a possible expansion of PTTEP in Indonesia," Riza Damanik said.
Internally, Indonesian authorities should conduct a repositioning and restructuring of the National Team of Emergency Response to Oil Spill in Sea (PKDTML) led by Freddy Numberi.
Earlier, Ferdi Tanoni, a Timor Sea issue observer, had said that Indonesia`s claim over the oil spill in the Timor Sea following an explosion in the Montara oil field on August 21, 2009, was rejected by PTTEP Australasia.
The company had referred to a scientific report saying that the oil spill had not reached Indonesian waters, Ferdi said in Kupang on Sunday (Nov 14), quoting a report of "Peduli Timor Barat" Foundation network in Canberra.
The Indonesian government has demanded a compensation amounting to US$2.4 billion from Thailand`s PTTEP Australasia for the oil spill in Timor Sea. The oil has spilled for 74 days after the Montara oil field on August 21, 2009.
PTTEP Australasia (PTTEP AA), a subsidiary of the Thai-listed PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited on September 2, 2010, confirmed the Government of Indonesia that it has not accepted any claims for compensation relating to the claimed impacts of oil released from the company?s Montara field in the Timor Sea last year.
PTTEP CEO and President Anon Sirisaengtaksin said that the letter of claim and attached documents contained no verifiable evidence to support the claim.
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