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East Nusa Tenggara seaweed farmers win compensation for Montara oil spill
An Australian court has ordered PTT Exploration and Production Australasia to pay compensation to seaweed farmers in East Nusa Tengara who were affected by the Montara oil spill of 2009.
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This photo provided by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and taken on Sept. 28, 2009, shows oil leaking from the Montara oil rig in the Timor Sea. As many as 28,000 barrels of oil gushed into the Timor Sea off Australia's northern coast in the 10 weeks after the West Atlas oil rig began leaking, raising concerns of an environmental disaster. (Handout/WWF via AFP/Annabelle Sandes)
Daniel Sanda, a seaweed farmer from East Nusa Tenggara’s Rote Island, may have breathed a sigh of relief after an Australian court ruled in favor of him and thousands of other farmers in a class action lawsuit pertaining to the 2009 Montara oil spill.
On Friday, a justice of the Federal Court of Australia upheld Daniel’s lawsuit against PTT Exploration and Production Australasia (PTTEP) that demanded the company pay compensation to the seaweed farmers whose livelihoods were affected by the oil spill.
PTTEP is a subsidiary of Thai oil production company PTT, which operated the Montara rig at the time of the spill.
Federal Court justice David Yates, after considering a pool of evidence presented by Daniel and his legal team, upheld the plaintiffs’ claims that the spilled oil reached the waters around Rote Island and Kupang regency and caused damage to the seaweed crops.
“I am satisfied that, although difficult to assess, and although attended with uncertainty, the applicant’s loss can be calculated, and that he is entitled to an award of damages,” Justice Yates said in his judgment, according to the court’s website.
According to law firm Maurice Blackburn Lawyers that represents the plaintiffs in the case, the justice ordered the company to pay Daniel around Rp 252 million (US$17,533) for damages for the losses caused by the oil spill between 2009 and 2014.
