Challenging the Sacred Block
The court hearing of a suit by Amien Rais and 100 others demanding that the Cepu Block management agreement be annulled has begun. ExxonMobil asked that the agreement be respected. JAKARTA Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member Marwan Batubara is busy collecting signatures. Last week three of his subordinates were sent out to visit more than 100 people to get their signatures for a power of attorney that he had prepared. “I’m optimistic, it will end in less than three weeks,” he told Tempo. The power of attorney was for a suit presented by 111 people against nine institutions and mining operators. This includes the Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources, the state-owned oil company Pertamina, the Upstream Oil & Gas Regulatory Agency, ExxonMobil, the Department for State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and PT Humpus Patragas. They are challenging an agreement over the management of the Cepu Block in the boarder region between Central and East Java that has fallen in the hands ...