TNI will not hesitate to act sternly against those disrupting either onshore or offshore oil or gas deposits, General Moeldoko said.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) will act decisively against any vandalizing of national vital resources in the energy and mineral sectors, its chief said.
The energy and mineral resource sectors are a great contributor to state revenues and impact the lives of the entire public, TNI chief General Moeldoko said following a meeting with Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik here on Tuesday.
"I will deal with anybody disrupting these vital objects," said Moeldoko, who assumed the post of TNI chief only last week.
TNI will not hesitate to act sternly against those disrupting either onshore or offshore oil or gas deposits, he said.
Moeldoko noted that when he was Army chief of staff he received a report from the president director of state oil and gas company Pertamina, Karen Agustiawan, about oil thefts in pipelines connecting Tempino in Jambi province to Plaju, South Sumatra province.
"(Soon after receiving the report) I deployed 'raider' troops. In only a week they solved the case," he said.
He added that TNI troops also captured a deserter accused of protecting the oil thieves.
"We raided his house, but he was not found. But a week later, he gave himself up and confessed to the misdeeds," Moeldoko recalled.
The TNI had also sacked a soldier of the Sriwijaya regional military command for involvement in oil thefts.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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