Govt appoints Semen Padang president to lead SG<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government, as the majority shareholder, appointed Dwi
\nSoetjipto as the new president director of PT Semen Gresik, amid
\nplans by the country's largest cement maker to expand its
\ncapacity and cope with threats of future cement shortages.<\/p>\n
Dwi, who is currently the president director of Gresik's West
\nSumatra-based subsidiary PT Semen Padang and has served his
\nentire career in the company, will replace Satriyo.<\/p>\n
The decision was made during an extraordinary shareholders'
\nmeeting, which ended late on Monday. The government has a 51
\npercent share in the company, with Mexican cement giant Cemex SA
\nand public investors holding 25 percent and 24 percent,
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
Aside from the reshuffle, the shareholders also agreed to
\nretain incumbent Semen Gresik vice president director Francisco
\nNoriega and finance director Cholil Hasan.<\/p>\n
New management members include Chabib Bahari, Suharto and Paul
\nEugene Serrano.<\/p>\n
The shareholders have also appointed Agus Tjahyana as
\npresident commissioner of the company, replacing Zainal Abidin,
\nand retained Jose Luis Saenz de Miera Alonso as vice president
\ncommissioner.<\/p>\n
Purwaka, Muhammad Nuh and Jannette V. Sevilla have been
\nincluded on the list of new additions to the board of
\ncommissioners.<\/p>\n
A senior official at the office of the State Minister of State
\nEnterprises said Dwi's appointment was primarily attributable to
\nhis success in improving Semen Padang's operation.<\/p>\n
\"Dwi has been appointed as president because he managed to
\nimprove the performance of Semen Padang and restore the firm's
\noperation after the 2002 catastrophe,\" said the official.<\/p>\n
Semen Padang management and workers, backed by several local
\npoliticians, launched in 2002 a massive strike demanding a
\nseparation from its parent company to protest the contractual
\nagreement by the government to sell its controlling stake in
\nSemen Gresik to Cemex.<\/p>\n
Years of revolt ended when the government launched a major
\nshakeup in the company's management structure last year.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the meeting, Cemex representatives refused to
\napprove Gresik's consolidated audited financial statement for
\n2004, due in part to several question marks in the Semen Padang
\naccount.<\/p>\n
Gresik vice president commissioner Jose Luis Saenz de Miera
\nAlonso and commissioner Ignacio Ortiz Martin said in a statement
\nthat the uncertainties included the significant arrears in the
\n2002 and 2003 financial statements of Semen Padang to which
\nauditors issued a disclaimer opinion.<\/p>\n
Aside from that, the findings of the special audit of Semen
\nPadang have not expressed any formal opinion. The audit was
\nlaunched in 2003 to uncover the reasons for the problems in Semen
\nPadang.<\/p>\n
The shareholders at Tuesday's meeting also ordered the new
\nmanagement of Gresik to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study
\non plans to construct new plants next year in Central Java, with
\nan expected installed capacity of 2.5 million tons of cement
\nannually.<\/p>\n
Gresik is currently utilizing all of its installed capacity of
\nsome 6.9 million tons per year.<\/p>\n
The company has predicted that there could likely be a
\nshortage in the commodity by 2007, with government-sponsored
\ninfrastructure projects spurring demand.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-appoints-semen-padang-president-to-lead-sg-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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