Residents Affected By PT SMGP Gas Leaks Have Not Received Compensation

Security officers evacuated dozens of residents who were victims of a gas well leak belonging to PT SMGP. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The House of Representatives' Commission VII today held a Debate (RDP) with the Board of Directors of PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power (SMGP) regarding the incident of the Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) gas leak, Sunday 24 April.

In the RDP, the SMGP Directors admitted that they had not provided compensation or compensation to the directly affected victims.

Based on SMGP's confession, currently his party has collaborated with the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) to conduct investigations and pay compensation.

Responding to the report, Commission VII member Adian Napitupulu questioned the involvement of Forkompimda in providing compensation.

According to Adian, this incident, which has been repeated 4 times, should have been discussed directly with the victim without involving Forkompimda elements, which also consist of law enforcement officers.

"What does this have to do with Forkopimda? Later there will be police and soldiers, then the victim is confronted with uniformed officers for the umpteenth time. Do not use the apparatus as a shield to negotiate. Say how much compensation you want, accountability is important for us to hear," said Adian in the RDP, Monday 23 May.

In line with Adian, the Deputy Chairman of Commission VII, Maman Abdurahman admitted that the involvement of the apparatus in the settlement of this compensation was not necessary.

According to him, this will only confuse the public with law enforcement officers.

"Don't let this incident happen again like in Sulawesi, where the apparatus used the apparatus to clash with the public. We could burn a lot of people (SMGP)," said Maman.

He asked SMGP to take advantage of the company's government relations to discuss compensation directly with the community without the involvement of a third party.

"What was presented by SMGP and what was presented did not match. The compensation in our minds seems to have been done, but it has just been discussed with Forkopimda. This could be called a public fraud," said Maman.