Rioting in Indorama complex traumatizes expat children<\/p>\n
By M.M.I. Ahyani<\/p>\n
PURWAKARTA, West Java (JP): A badly battered sedan, with all
\nits windows shattered, stood abandoned in front of the Rama
\nInternational School, inside the PT Indorama Synthetics company
\ncompound.<\/p>\n
This was where dozens of children of Indian expatriate workers
\nwitnessed, in panic, an angry mob approach and start to attack,
\nand eventually burn down, nine classrooms, during a labor protest
\nwhich turned violent on Friday, Sept. 4.<\/p>\n
The sedan was one of 38 cars smashed and burned by the mob
\ndemanding pay increase. Up to a week later, dozens of riot police
\nwere still guarding the company compound and turning some
\nfacilities into their resting place.<\/p>\n
The school building is now empty. The blackened walls stand
\nsad and forlorn. Only a handful of employees were seen cleaning
\nup debris and what's left of the school's computers.<\/p>\n
\"I really can't understand what we, expatriate employees from
\nIndia, have done wrong to be treated like this? We are here to
\nseek a livelihood just like the local people,\" lamented Bathia
\nPius, an Indian civil engineer in the India-Indonesia joint
\nventure. The Jakarta Post met Bathia on Sept. 9, when he was
\nsupervising the repair of the school building.<\/p>\n
PT Indorama Synthetics, or Indorama to local Purwakartans, is
\nnot a new venture in Indonesia. Situated eight kilometers
\nsouthwest of the town center, and near the Jatiluhur Dam,
\nIndorama has been here for 22 years.<\/p>\n
The area, designated as the Purwakarta Industrial and Tourism
\nEstate, is also home to PT Indonesia Asahi Chemical Industry, PT
\nHan Seung Betel Textile, PT Intatex and other textile industries.
\nThe national telecommunications company, PT Indosat, also has its
\nearth station and training center here.<\/p>\n
Indorama -- Indonesia's largest producer of polyester fiber --
\nproduces at least 900 metric tons of polymer daily at its 70-
\nhectare compound. Most of the production is for export.<\/p>\n
Bathia said at least 80 expatriates -- from India and France
\n-- were residing in the compound. \"We had a harmonious life with
\nother people who resided in the complex, or with the local people
\nin Purwakarta,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He dismissed the suggestion that the expatriates were an
\n\"exclusive\" group. \"I don't think we're like that. Whatever we
\nenjoyed from the company, the other 6,000 workers also enjoyed.\"<\/p>\n
\"Maybe there were other expatriates from other companies who
\nwere like that,\" he said. \"(Because of the rioting) we're now
\nembarrassed (being expatriates), as if the Indian people did not
\ncare about the welfare of Indonesian workers.\"<\/p>\n
He pointed out how the Rama International School would have
\nbeen willing to accept local children, except for an Indonesian
\nlaw against it.<\/p>\n
On the day of the rioting, thousands of factory workers were
\ndemonstrating to demand a pay rise of Rp 150,000 in their, on
\naverage, monthly salary of Rp 200,000. When their demand was not
\nmet, the protest turned violent. The mob -- which some said
\nincluded people from outside of the compound -- started to burn
\ncars and buildings and ransacked the houses of the expatriates.<\/p>\n
Many of the expatriates fled in panic to Jakarta, according to
\nBathia. \"The wives and children of the expatriates would have to
\nwait even longer before they returned here. But the expatriate
\nworkers are needed, and some of us have returned.\"<\/p>\n
The school's 140 students were staying home temporarily. \"The
\nchildren are traumatized. When the unrest broke out on Friday,
\nthere were 26 students still in class, frightened. They witnessed
\nthe mob coming and attacking the building, and finally burning it
\ndown.<\/p>\n
\"The mob also burned down our library. It will probably take
\nus three years before we can reestablish our collection of 10,000
\nbooks,\" Bathia lamented.<\/p>\n
However, \"we are hoping the school will be reopened on Sept.
\n21. That's why I am here, working to repair things, to bring
\nthings back to normal so our children will not be afraid
\nanymore,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bathia said he did not know the material losses incurred in
\nthe rioting. He also said that even though he had tried, he did
\nnot always understand the Indonesian workers.<\/p>\n
\"If they were really angry about the salary level, why
\ncouldn't they have talked to the management further, given it one
\nor two days for negotiations? Why vandalize, burning things
\ndown?\" he asked. \"I just can't understand. If Indonesian people
\ndon't want us here, we'll leave.\"<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Sept. 5, order had been restored at Indorama, but
\nPurwakarta police chief Lt. Col. S. B. Heriawan deployed troops
\nto secure four other factories because their workers have also
\nstarted to demonstrate for a pay rise.<\/p>\n
Indorama corporate secretary V.S. Baldwa later told the Post
\nthat an increase of Rp 90,000 had been agreed to on Saturday
\nmorning in negotiations between the factory workers and
\nmanagement. He also said it was the third pay increase this year.
\nThe previous pay rises were given in January and July.<\/p>\n
Local workers refused to be interviewed, except to say that
\nthey were afraid after 27 of their colleagues were arrested and
\ninterrogated by the police.<\/p>\n
\"Those friends were seen vandalizing things in a video
\nrecording,\" said one company driver. \"I don't know whether it's
\nthe recording of a journalist or intelligence police.\"<\/p>\n
Police chief Heriawan, however, denied arresting that many
\nworkers. \"We did not arrest that many people. Maybe we did
\nquestion some, for accounts of the incident, but we did not
\ndetain anyone. We only arrested one because he was looting. But
\nhe was not a company worker,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
He called on the locals to never again engage in destructive
\nactions. \"It's clear that other parties would take advantage of
\nthe (chaotic) situation,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rioting-in-indorama-complex-traumatizes-expat-children-1447893297",
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