Major companies in Aceh follow ExxonMobil's lead<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc.'s (EMOI)
\ndecision to halt oil and gas production in Aceh province for
\nsecurity reasons has forced other major companies in the area to
\nfollow suit.<\/p>\n
PT Arun NGL Co. -- a major exporter of liquefied natural gas
\nto Japan and South Korea -- officially stopped operations on
\nSaturday, company spokesman Rustam Effendi said.<\/p>\n
\"We have to suspend production because the supply of gas as a
\nraw material from ExxonMobil has totally stopped,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Aceh legislators Mustafa A. Glanggang and E.M. Barify
\nseparately called on Saturday for the companies to resume
\noperations, Antara said.<\/p>\n
\"This will certainly create huge losses for both companies and
\nthe Aceh people,\" Glanggang said.<\/p>\n
PT Arun, which employs 10 foreign staff members, 1,400 local
\nemployees and some 2,400 contract workers, is 55 percent owned by
\nstate oil and gas company Pertamina, 35 percent by Mobil Oil
\nIndonesia Inc. and 15 percent by the Japan-Indonesia LNG Co.<\/p>\n
EMOI, which operates three oil and gas fields in the North
\nAceh districts of Lhoksukon, Arun and Pase, and supplies several
\nother major companies in the area with gas and condensate, halted
\nproduction on Friday amid security concerns.<\/p>\n
The company, owned by Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., employs
\n30 expatriates, about 600 local employees and another 1,500
\ncontractors working at 56 wells.<\/p>\n
EMOI operates at an enormous industrial site in North Aceh
\nwhere violence is common between government forces and the Free
\nAceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels.<\/p>\n
Both PT Arun NGL Co. and EMOI sites have been scenes of
\nconflict.<\/p>\n
Records revealed that staff have been kidnapped and
\nthreatened, vehicles burned and shots have been fired at both
\ncompanies' chartered airplanes.<\/p>\n
Local reporters, however, described the poor living conditions
\nof people residing near the compound of the giant industrial
\nsites as \"a factor that has triggered a strong GAM movement in
\nthe area\".<\/p>\n
PT Arun was evacuating staff from its local airstrip to Medan
\nin neighboring North Sumatra on Saturday.<\/p>\n
It is said that on Friday fertilizer plants PT Pupuk Iskandar
\nMuda (PIM) and PT Asean Aceh Fertilizers (AAF), and paper plant
\nPT Kertas Kraft Aceh (KKA) had production difficulties because of
\na cut in fuel supplies.<\/p>\n
PIM halted plant production Friday because of a gas shortage.<\/p>\n
No immediate confirmation was available from the three
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
A local journalist, however, said that on Saturday security
\nappeared to have been reinforced at EMOI, with armed soldiers
\nguarding all security posts.<\/p>\n
Aceh Police chief Brig. Gen. Chaerul Rasyid said after a
\nhearing with provincial legislators on Saturday that the police
\nwere ready to provide extensive protection to EMOI, which has so
\nfar been guarded by the Army.<\/p>\n
\"We received a report that GAM rebels have asked for a
\n'compensation' fund of around Rp 5 billion (US$500,000) per year
\nfrom those companies,\" he said.<\/p>\n
North Aceh's GAM spokesman Abu Sofyan Daud dismissed the
\nreport, saying that \"actually we are ready to secure ExxonMobil
\nif TNI\/Polri are removed from the area,\" Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
He also said that the company should have given some funds to
\nGAM instead of the military\/police as \"it will only enrich the
\nJavanese imperialists\".<\/p>\n
On Saturday and Sunday, however, a massive military deployment
\ntook place in the province's capital, Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Earlier, during a hearing on Saturday, General Chaerul was
\nalso quoted by Antara as saying that he was initially scheduled
\nto meet with GAM commander Tengku Abdullah Syafii'e on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n
\"But that failed to happen as he (Abdullah) did not get
\npermission from GAM in Switzerland,\" Chaerul said, adding that he
\nstill wishes to meet with the rebel leader.<\/p>\n
Separately, it was also announced on Saturday that Aceh's
\nHumanitarian Pause was officially renamed Damai Melalui Dialog
\n(Peace Through Dialog), government representative Col. Ridwan
\nKarim said.<\/p>\n
\"The Switzerland-based Joint Forum (between Indonesia and GAM)
\nhas also been renamed as the Joint Council. Under the new
\narrangement we will focus on extensive consultation among field
\ncommanders from both sides,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen shot dead an palm-oil
\nplantation worker Yusri A. Gani near his house in Bukit Rata
\nvillage, East Aceh, on Saturday, plantation official Saifullah
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
A GAM rebel named Jamhur Mahmud, 32, was shot dead in Pasar
\nGarot in Pidie regency on Saturday afternoon when a group of
\nrebels intercepted patrolling officers, Adj. Sr. Comr. Heru Budi
\nErsanto said.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
\nSecurity Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Sunday the
\nNational Police along with the Indonesian Military (TNI) should
\nbe involved in internal security.<\/p>\n
\"I realize the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree no.
\nVI and VII\/2000, regarding separation of the roles of TNI and
\nNational Police, stipulates that the TNI is to maintain external
\ndefense, while the National Police are to manage internal
\nsecurity. But the separatist demands in our two troubled
\nprovinces, Aceh and Irian Jaya, have been threatening our
\nstability.<\/p>\n
\"Our Police are not adequately trained to quell such
\nactivities. The duty (to quell the separatist activities) belongs
\nto the TNI,\" Susilo said. (edt\/02\/50\/51)<\/p>",
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