Jakarta (Antara Babel) - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan strongly demanded immediate settlement of the legal case over the of the Montara oil spill causing extensive damage to the environment in Timor Sea.
"We will take firm action as the main victims of the Montara incident are Indonesian people," Luhut said here on Tuesday without elaborating the action.
He said he has sent envoy to inspect directly the damage caused by the incident.
He said he would not stop pushing for immediate settlement of the case especially as seaweed growers in East Nusa Tenggara had won a law suit at the Australian Federal Court about the validity of the plaintiff in filing class action in environmental pollution case caused by the explosion of the oil mill of Montara in NTT.
"I have tried to contact Australian Attorney General George Brandis to drum up their support to speed up the legal process," he said.
At the same time the government of Indonesia has also filed a lawsuit against the Montara contractor PTTEP with the Central Jakarta District Court, which is expected to hold a hearing on August 23.
"We see what has happened . It is almost 8 months already. Australia has been paid, and why not we," luhut said.
The government of Indonesia filed the lawsuit for a compensation of Rp27.4 trillion for the environmental damage caused by the oil spill in the sea off East Nusa Tenggara.
The lawsuit filed on May 3, 2017 is against Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Australasia (PTTEP AA), which is based in Australia and against Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) and Petroleum Authority of Thailand Public Company Limited (PTT PCL), based in Thailand.
Negotiations after the explosion on August 21 in 2009, have always ended in deadlock. In 2012, the Indonesian government said PTT EP had no good intention of resolving the case.
Instead of paying a compensation, the company which operated in the sea off Australia said in its website, www.pttep.com, quoting the result of an independent research that there was oil from the Montara mill spilled into the Indonesian territory.
PTT EP also released a statement saying the oil spill caused only insignificant damage to the ecosystem in Timor sea.
The Montara wellhead operated by subsidiary PTTEP Australasia caught fire in 2009, leaking hundreds of thousands of liters of oil off the northern coast of Western Australia, according to media reports at the time.
The incident was considered one of Australia's worst oil disasters, and PTTEP was fined A$510,000 ($394,000) by a Darwin court after pleading guilty in 2011 to charges related to workplace health and safety and failure to maintain good oilfield practice.
Indonesia alleges, however, that the oil spill also fouled seawater and coastal areas in the nation's East Nusa Tenggara province, and filed a lawsuit in a Jakarta court against PTT, PTTEP and PTTEP Australasia, seeking 27.4 trillion rupiah ($2.1 billion) for damages and restoration costs.
Besides polluting seawater, the incident also damaged mangrove forests, coral reefs and seaweed fields in East Nusa Tenggara province, Luhut said.
PTTEP said in an emailed statement that it was aware of reports about Indonesia's lawsuit, but that it "has not been served with proceedings and has not received any notification of the substance or extent of the claim."
PTTEP Australasia maintains its position that "no oil from Montara reached the shores of Indonesia and that no long-term damage was done to the environment in the Timor Sea," the company said.
In a separate class action suit, around 15,000 Indonesian seaweed farmers are seeking more than A$200 million ($152 million) from PTTEP Australasia to cover damages from the spill.
