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Govt urged to revise Montara oil spill lawsuit dossier
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A map shows the territorial waters between Australia and Indonesia at East Timor, where an oil spill occurred from Australian Montara's oil rigs in 2009. (kompas.com/-)
I
ndonesian seaweed farmers from East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) have called on the government to revise their lawsuit at the Central Jakarta District Court against Thailand-based oil producer PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) Australasia over the 2009 Montara oil spill.
They feared that several mistakes in the dossier could impact the class action lawsuit filed by 15,000 seaweed farmers against PTTEP Australasia at the Federal Court of Australia.
Daniel Sanda, one of the plaintiffs from Rote who also represents the farmers, said the government had misspelled the name of the company allegedly responsible for the oil spill in its lawsuit dossier.
The government identified The Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Australasia (PTTEP AA) as the first defendant in the case, instead of PTTEP Australasia (Ashmore Cartier) Pty Ltd, Daniel said on Wednesday.
He went on to say that the government had demanded the company pay for environmental damages the oil spill caused in only two regencies, namely Kupang and Rote Ndao, while the spill had actually impacted 13 regencies and cities.
(Read also: Indonesia calls on Australia to expedite legal process of Montara oil-spill)
Meanwhile, Ferdi Tanoni, chairman of an advocacy group supporting the oil spill victims, said the accident had affected around 10,000 seaweed farmers and fishermen in NTT, and their families in 13 regencies and cities.
The case has been under deliberation at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney since August last year. (fra)
