Medan still tense following bloody worker riots<\/p>\n
MEDAN (JP): The situation in the capital city of North Sumatra
\nremained tense yesterday as the streets remained quiet as many
\nbusinesses and shops kept their doors shut.<\/p>\n
Although the local security agency announced that the
\nsituation was already under control, about 80 large factories
\nlocated along the road connecting the city and Belawan seaport
\nwere silent. The 26-kilometer road, notorious for its traffic
\njams, was deserted yesterday.<\/p>\n
The two-day riots, participated in by more than 10,000
\nworkers, left one man killed, several shop owners beaten, 12
\ndemonstrators injured, 150 shops ransacked or looted and 12 cars
\nset ablaze.<\/p>\n
What set the workers off was the mysterious death of a laborer
\nafter a strike last month. Rusli, 22, was found floating dead in
\nthe Deli River on March 11.<\/p>\n
They workers also demanded improvements in their wages, an end
\nto military intervention in labor disputes and official
\nrecognition of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), the
\nfirst non-government labor organization to gain any sort of mass
\nfollowing in decades.<\/p>\n
PT Industri Karet Deli, Rusli's employer, on Friday reached a
\nsettlement with his widow and paid her Rp 10 million (US$4,830)
\nin damages.<\/p>\n
Both sides agreed that police would continue to investigate
\nthe case.<\/p>\n
On Saturday about 2,000 workers took to the street in the
\nindustrial area. They wielded posters demanding wage increases
\nand direct dialogs with the management of PT Industri Karet Deli,
\nPT Gunung Gahapi Sakti, PT Djipta Rimba Djaya and PT Cipta Prima.<\/p>\n
Large groups of security officers, deployed to guard the
\nindustrial area, managed to divide the workers into small groups.<\/p>\n
A local businessman told The Jakarta Post that he was not sure
\nwhen he would reopen his business. "We are waiting for a
\nfavorable moment," said Vincent Wijaya, president of PT Juta
\nJetila, which operates a cold storage facility.<\/p>\n
Vincent said workers at the industrial estate had been given
\ntemporary leave by their employers, but most industrialists are
\noptimistic it will be business as usual soon.<\/p>\n
Other businessmen contacted by the Post said that the riots
\nhad a very negative impact on the local economy. They said that a
\nMalaysian company canceled its plans to buy land within the
\nindustrial estate after the riots.<\/p>\n
The company was about to sign a contract on the purchase
\nFriday, the source said.<\/p>\n
Another protest<\/p>\n
In related news, about 300 workers, mostly women, staged a
\nprotest in Pematang Siantar, 90 kilometers southeast of here, on
\nSaturday.<\/p>\n
Seven of the women were reported to have been slightly injured
\nin a clash with the police. The demonstrators, workers at PT
\nSintong Sari Union, demanded wage increases and other basic
\nrights. They also carried posters, some of which read "Police,
\nhands off workers' problems with employers."<\/p>\n
Some of the demonstrators also tried to force their way into
\nthe office of the company's owner, Edwin Ningei, but they were
\nstopped by the officers.<\/p>\n
The police yesterday were still questioning 20 suspects on
\ncharges of taking part in the looting, ransacking shops and
\nextortion during the riots. Some 50 others have been released,
\nsaid Col. Chairuddin Ismail, the city police chief.<\/p>\n
He said that two persons, who were believed to have killed a
\nlocal businessman on Friday, were under serious interrogation.<\/p>\n
The businessman, July Kristanto, also known as Kwok Joe Lip,
\n53, was mobbed to death by angry demonstrators. (rmn\/tis)<\/p>",
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