Police Officer Arrested From Illegal Oil Well Explosion Site

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

JAMBI - A joint TNI/Police team arrested an individual member of the Batanghari Police from the location of an illegal oil well explosion in Bungku Village, Batanghari Regency, Jambi.

"From the location of the explosion of an illegal oil well in Batanghari, we arrested a police officer with the initials DR. Currently, he is still being investigated at the Jambi Regional Police Headquarters", said the Jambi Regional Police's Criminal Investigation Unit, Kombes Sigit Dany Setiyono, quoted by Antara, Monday, September 20.

In addition to arresting a police officer, the team also arrested an illegal oil drilling worker with the initials HS who suffered 80 percent burns as a result of the incident.

The police are still hunting for a financier with the initials UJ who fled after the incident.

Previously, an illegal oil well in Bungku Village, Bajubang District, Batanghari Regency, precisely in the PT AAS concession area, exploded and burned the illegal drilling area of 2 hectares in that area.

So far, the fire has not been extinguished. The forest and land fires handling team is still putting out fires on the burned land due to illegal drilling.

The fire incident was first reported by the Jambi Province Karhutla Air Task Force on Saturday, September 18, at around 10.00 WIB.

The fire is thought to have originated from an illegal drilling point that started with sparks during the exploitation of illegal oil.

"Until now, the condition of the fire has not been extinguished because the fire was so large that it came from one point of an illegal oil well that has a gas source. The fire height reached 20 meters", said Kombes Sigit.

Currently, the Jambi Province Karhutla Task Force continues to try to mitigate disasters through water bombing operations to localize the fire so it doesn't spread.

Firefighting operations were also carried out by ground fire personnel assisted by the Resort Police, Military District Commander, and BPBD (Regional Disaster Management Agency) of Batanghari and Sarolangun Regencies in synergy with PT REKI and PT AAS.

"Starting yesterday, 110 water bombing operations, as many as 400 tons, have been carried out to localize the area around the fire", said Sigit.

To extinguish the fire, the Jambi Police have coordinated with the Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in mitigating the forest and land fires disaster.

Furthermore, the suppression operation will also involve the support of PT Pertamina, which has competence in mitigating fires in oil wells.

The Jambi Police have identified the parties responsible for this fire incident, namely UJ, a resident of Bungku Village RT 29 who has been missing since the incident and DR an unscrupulous member of the Batanghari Police.

"DR has been secured and further legal proceedings will be carried out", said Sigit.

In addition, in this incident, an HS victim was rescued from the location with 80 percent burns who is currently undergoing treatment at Bhayangkara Hospital under supervision from the Jambi Police.

"There is also a victim who is suspected of participating in illegal drilling activities. The victim suffered burns around 80 percent", he said.

As the blackout continues to be pursued by all parties in a synergistic manner, the Jambi Police continue to seek to uncover the illegal drilling network and will continue to eradicate this practice in Jambi Province from upstream to downstream.

"This is a valuable lesson for Jambi residents so that people, especially those in illegal drilling locations, understand how big the impacts and risks are due to these activities", said Kombes Sigit.