Oil spill heavily pollutes Prabumulih river

The Kelekar river in Prabumulih in South Sumatera has been heavily polluted as oil spill resulting from a leakage in state oil and gas company Pertamina's pipelining continues unabated although the oil company's workers had tried to burn the oil spill.

The Sriwijaya Pos reported on Monday that at least 1.5-kilometer section of the river had been heavily polluted by the oil spill coming from the leaked pipes. The oil company has no choice but to burn the leaked oil but the burning has instead caused more problems. The daily said that at least 400 meter of the public graveyard and residents' farms were also burned.

The oil leakage started late last week after a heavy truck hit Pertamina's underground oil transmitting network in Batu Koning, Prabumulih.

The local legislators asked Pertamina to immediately clean the river, which is used by the locals not only for washing but also for bathing. (*)