Pertamina Adds 15 Boats for Balikpapan Bay Oil Recovery Effort  

TEMPO.CO, Balikpapan - State oil company Pertamina has sent 15 additional boats for the oil recovery efforts off of the Balikpapan Bay that is contaminated by oil spills. This is an addition to the 1,000 personnel that have been mobilized earlier for the recovery effort.

“The situation looks to improve compared to two days earlier,” said Yudi Nugraha, Region Manager Communication & CSR PT Pertamina Kalimantan on Friday, April 6.

Pertamina has dispatched four teams that work simultaneously in the clean-up effort that has been spread throughout four zones, which include the first zone in Jetty and Kampung Baru; the second zone in Balikpapan Bay Rede; the Monpera beach is considered as the third zone; while the outer beach areas are considered as the fourth zone.

Read: Pertamina Denies Negligence over Oil Spill in Balikpapan

“The oil recovery at Kampung Atas Air and Kampung Baru is done by a vacuum truck with the help of added oil absorbents,” Yudi explained. Meanwhile, oil skimmers and tugboats were sent to the Balikpapan Bay offshore.

Pertamina has also established a medical post in partnership with the Balikpapan Pertamina Hospital at Kampung Baru Ulu and Kampung Atas Air that provides free medical check-ups and medicines for affected local residents.

The oil recovery efforts commenced since March 31, with the support from at least 500 people from 67 communities across Balikpapan. They were spread across nine locations to manually recover the oils that have ended up at the coastlines.

BISNIS.COM