Govt supports 'status quo' on Semen padang case<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government would maintain the "status quo" in the high
\nprofile PT Semen Padang case, Minister of Home Affairs Hari
\nSabarno said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
"For the time being, the status quo will be maintained in the
\n(Semen Padang) case, meaning it (the company) will not be spun
\noff nor will the put option be exercised," Hari told reporters
\nafter attending a state function in Merdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
He also ordered the West Sumatra administration to make sure
\nthat protesting local people did not take over the Semen Padang
\nplant.<\/p>\n
"The important thing is that the plant can still operate and
\nprovide benefit to the local government and people," Hari said.<\/p>\n
He did not provide details on the status quo policy, but the
\nOffice of the State Minister for State Enterprises has set a Dec.
\n14 deadline for the sale of a 51 percent stake in state-owned
\ncement producer PT Semen Gresik, the parent of Semen Padang, to
\nMexican cement giant Cemex SA de CV via a put option deal. Cemex
\nalready owns 25 percent of Semen Gresik.<\/p>\n
The initial deadline was Oct. 26, but it was put back due to
\nprotests from West Sumatra people demanding that Semen Padang be
\nspun off from Semen Gresik before the government exercised the
\nput option.<\/p>\n
The protests against foreign ownership of Semen Padang
\nculminated last week when the local administration issued a
\ndecree taking over the plant. This was approved by the local
\nprovincial council.<\/p>\n
The move further jeopardized the country's already floundering
\nprivatization prospects and prompted a warning from the World
\nBank on Monday that other provinces could replicate the takeover
\nattempt.<\/p>\n
The World Bank's chief economist in Jakarta, Vikram Nehru, has
\nurged Jakarta to overrule the takeover attempt and immediately
\npress ahead with the sale, or risk creating "tremendous investor
\nwariness and uncertainty" toward future sell-off attempts.<\/p>\n
The West Sumatra administration, however, backed down from the
\ntakeover move earlier this week following strong criticism from
\nvarious quarters.<\/p>\n
Local leaders in South Sulawesi, the home of another Semen
\nGresik affiliate, PT Semen Tonasa, have been pressing the
\nadministration there to follow suit, also demanding Tonasa's
\nspin-off from Semen Gresik.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a senior government official said Thursday that
\nState Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi was
\nscheduled to fly to Padang to seek an amicable resolution to the
\ncase.<\/p>\n
Semen Padang president Ikhdan Nizar told The Jakarta Post on
\nThursday that reports of the takeover of the plant had not
\naffected production.<\/p>\n
He said that activities within the company were continuing as
\nnormal and that production per day had reached 18,700 tons.<\/p>\n
"There's no problem, employees are working as usual," he said.<\/p>\n
Semen Padang and Semen Tonasa contributed half of Semen
\nGresik's 2000 sales of around 13.8 million tons.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-supports-status-quo-on-semen-padang-case-1447893297",
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