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Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - Indonesia`s claim on US$1.4-2.4 billion in damages for oil pollution in the Timor Sea caused by an explosion in the Montara oil field in Australian seas has been rejected by the field`s operator, PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) Australasia, an informed local community activist said.

Ferdi Tanoni, an expert on Timor Sea issues said on Monday, he had received a report from a representative of the Care for Timor Barat Foundation (YPTB) in Perth, West Australia, that the claim was presented to PTTEP Australasia at a meeting with a Timor Sea Pollution Advocacy Team led by Masnellayati Hilman in Perth on Aug 26.

But PTTEP Australasia refused to discuss the demand for the US$ 1.4-2.4 billion compensation since it was not accompanied by supporting data.

"The advocacy team from Indonesia set up by Indonesian Minister of Transportation Freddy Numberi, had just presented a summary of the claim without any supporting data and it was therefore rejected," Tanoni said.

PTTEP Australasia as the Montara oil field operator refused to discuss the claim any further because no scientific evidence was presented to support it.

"This is an embarrassing thing for Indonesia as a big country," said Tanoni, who is chairman of YPOTB and writer of a book entitled "Skandal Laut Timor Sebuah Barter Politik Ekonomi Canberra-Jakarta" (The Timor Sea Scandal : a Canberra-Jakarta Economic Barter Policy).

He said the team formed by the Transportation Minister and the Head of the National Emergency Sea Oil Spill Reduction Emergency Team should have first undertaken a scientific research of the ecological and economic damages Montara oil spill had caused.

A rig in the Montara oil field exploded on Aug 21, 2009 because of the company`s negligence in operating the oil well located in the Atlas Block, the North West of the Timor Sea.

Tanoni, a former immigration agent at the Australian Embassy also added that the Australia foreign affairs ministry just knew that the Indonesia ambassor would hold closed-ddor meeting with PTTEP Australasia.

The Australia Federal government also didn`t want to be involved in the issue because it thought it was Indonesia`s right to make a claim for PTTEP Australasia in the case.
Meanwhile the PTTEP Australasia chief executive in Bangkok, Anon Sirisaengtaksin, said the Indonesian Advocacy team has not enough evidence to support the claim to the mentioned amount.

"We cannot yet comment on the damages claim proposed by Indonesia because until now, the Australia government hasn`t announced officially the results of its own investigation into the oil spill," Tanoni said.

Tanoni suspected PTTEP Australasia was waiting for the outcome of the Autralian government`s investigation merely as a tactic to win time.

"I worry that in the announcement latter, the Australian goverment will say there was no pollution in Indonesian part of the Timor Sea because there had been no protest or complaint from Indonesia about it," he said.
(T.KR-DLN/HAJM/H-YH/P003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
COPYRIGHT © 2012

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