Repeated Accident, Commission VII DPR Asks The Ministry Of Energy And Mineral Resources To Give Strict Sanctions To Sorik Marapi

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives urges the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (KESDM) to give a strong warning to PT Sorik Marapi Geothermal Power (SMGP), because there have been many work accidents at the geothermal drilling site, in Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra.

Deputy Chairperson of Commission VII DPR RI, Maman Abdurrahman, said that work accidents that often occur are repeated poisonings experienced by residents near geothermal drilling sites due to wild bursts in one of the drilling wells.

PT SMGP also uses the services of PT Halliburton Drilling Systems Indonesia (HDSI) as its contractor. In one of the conclusions of the meeting read by Maman, PT SMGP should not be given a mining permit again as long as it is still using PT HDSI, because it has caused many work accidents.

"Commission VII of the DPR RI urges the Director General of EBTKE KEESDM RI not to grant drilling permits to PT SMGP if they are still using the contractor PT HDSI as directional drilling services, considering that there have been many accidents and problems with drilling activities in areas other than PT SMGP," said Maman. when reading out the conclusion points in the DPR Commission VII meeting with the Director General of New Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Monday 22 August.

On another point of conclusion, Maman also emphasized that Commission VII of the DPR urged the Director General of EBTKE KEESDM to give strict sanctions in the form of revocation of drilling permits to PT Halliburton Logging Services Indonesia. Everything that happens at the geothermal drilling location, continued Maman, must be periodically reported to Commission VII of the DPR by the MEMR.

As is known, the incident of gas pipe leakage at the Sorik Marapi PLTP is not the first time this has occurred.

On January 25, 2021, the construction of a Geothermal Power Plant (PLTPB) power plant took a toll. A total of five residents died allegedly due to inhaling hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas.

Four months later, on May 14, 2021, a fire broke out in the company's work area. The location of the fire is only 300 meters from the settlement.

This incident then repeated on March 6, 2022. A total of 58 residents of Sibangor Jalu Village complained of health problems due to the incident of exposure to H2S gas at the AAE-05 well location. Luckily there were no casualties in the incident.

Finally, on Sunday 24 April, dozens of residents in Sibanggor Julu Village, Puncak Sorik Marapi District, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra, were poisoned by Hydrogen Sulfide gas or H2S.