T

he Cilacap branch of the Association of Indonesian Fishermen (HNSI) in Central Java have asked the owner of Martha Petrol tanker, along with state oil and gas company Pertamina to pay Rp 40.7 billion (US$2.8 million) for polluting Teluk Penyu waters in the regency.

Association chairman Indon Cahyono said the vessel had been sent a summons letter and had been given 14 days to have their demands fulfilled.

'€œIf on September 14, 2015 we have still received no answer, we will take the final step of taking the case into the legal process and [reporting it] to the Environment Ministry,'€ Indon told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He said the move of summoning Martha Petrol was made because a proposal for official dialogue with Martha Petrol had not been responded to.

As reported previously, in mid May this year crude oil was spilled into the sea as Martha Petrol was unloading crude oil at Pertamina'€™s Refinery Unit IV Cilacap.

The ship was carrying 24,000 kiloliters of Marine Fuel Oil (MFO) 180 at that time. During the unloading, however, some 4,000 kiloliters were spilled, polluting the water up to Teluk Penyu Beach, Cilacap.

Thousands of fishermen in Cilacap have claimed that the spill caused significant suffering, as they lost their livelihoods for around three weeks.

Indon said they had demanded Rp 40.7 billion in funds, both to Pertamina and to Martha Petrol.

They claimed the compensation amount was calculated at an average loss of Rp 200,000 per day for a whole month, from a total 20,000 fishermen in the region.

'€œFishermen were forced to take loans because of the interruption to their fishing activities,'€ Indon argued.

According to Indon, both Pertamina and Martha Petrol had not yet given the fishermen compensation.

However, Indon said, they had not summoned Pertamina'€™s RU IV Cilacap, as they were still communicating with the company, although there had not yet been a clear decision on the matter.

'€œWith Pertamina we are still patient to wait despite the growing timeframe,'€ said Indon, adding that if the state-owned company finally rejected the demand then the same legal steps would also be taken against Pertamina.

Meanwhile in a press release, Pertamina Cilacap said that the oil spill came from Martha Petrol and that it was not Pertamina'€™s fault.

As such, the release said, Martha Petrol would be the party most responsible for the spill and for the loss suffered by the thousands of fishermen in Cilacap.

Contradicting earlier statements, the press release also claimed that the oil that polluted Teluk Penyu Beach was MFO 180 type transported by Martha Petrol.

At the time the crude oil was spilled, General Manager of Pertamina RU IV Cilacap, Nyoman Sukadana, said the oil in Pertamina'€™s Single Point Mooring (SPM) was of Arabian Light Crude (ALC) type and not MFO 180.