Chevron Pacific Indonesia Releases Statement on Forest Fire in Riau

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Managements of PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) on Wednesday claims the forest in the vicinity of the company’s headquarters in Rumbai Pesisir in Pekanbaru City, Riau Province, is not a protected forest owned by the company.

Citing Antara News, Chevron representative wrote: “The land area managed by PT CPI in the vicinity of Rumbai Camp has a status as an ‘areas for other use’ (APL) and is not a protected forest. PT CPI is a Contractor partnership contract (KKKS) for the Indonesian government at the Rokan Block that manages state-owned properties to support national upstream oil and gas activities and PT CPI works under the supervision of the SKK Migas,” said  Manager Corporate Communications PT CPI, Sonitha Poernomo, on Wednesday, March 4. 

Poernama said the company received a report of a fire at a land space located at the back of Rumbai Camp at noon and immediately mobilized a team of firefighters - with three firefighter trucks and heavy machinery to open the route - to the location to support local authorities in fighting the fire.

Up until this news was published, Chevron firefighters are still attempting to extinguish the fire in a land space as broad as four hectares. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

According to the observation of Antara reporter, the area under fire was being extinguished by dozens of firefighters from Chevron Pacific Indonesia, the local Environment and Forestry Ministry (KLHK), and the Pekanbaru Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).

Read: Chevron Pacific Indonesia Says Dumai Oil Spill is Not Toxic Waste

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