Pertamina appeals military to tighten control on oil facilities

Baihaki Hakim, the president of the state owned oil and gas company Pertamina has appealed the military and the police to tighten their control over the country's oil and gas operations to anticipate possible attacks from irresponsible people.

"All the country's oil and gas production activities, both upstream and downstream, should be protected because event a small attack on oil and gas production facilities, the impact will be fatal," he told reporters following a signing of a gas agreement with India at his office on Thursday.

Pertamina's boss made his call amid a growing violence in the country's major oil and gas exploration and production centers. A number of cars owned by oil giant PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia's contractors in Duri, Riau were set on fire early this week when angry youngsters went amok after the company refused to hire them.

Baihakim, the former president of Caltex, said that the military and the police had been very cooperative in maintaining the security in the country's oil and gas production areas. "But we have to always keep on guard to anticipate any possibilities," he added.

Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono early this week also encouraged mining investors to cooperate with the military and the police in ensuring the safety of their business amid security instability in the country.

He said that the cooperation was necessary because the government could not work alone to deal with the growing security problem due to lack of funds.

Disputes between mining companies and local residents, and workers are escalating. The mining firms have often been forced to close their operations due to lack of security guarantee from the local government. (*)