Bintan resort area `peaceful'

Bintan resort area `peaceful'

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): The situation at Indonesia's Bintan
Industrial Estate, which has been the target of protests by local
villagers, was peaceful Thursday, said estate manager SembCorp
Industries Ltd.

SembCorp said 150 security personnel were guarding the estate,
which houses 27 factories producing electronics, textiles and
other goods, and that the estate was operating normally.

Only one tenant has shut down operations and evacuated its
staff, but will resume operations soon, SembCorp said. Its
statement didn't name the tenant.

Local villagers on the Indonesian island of Bintan, 55
kilometers from Singapore, have been protesting to demand
compensation for land they said they were pressured to sell at
low prices in 1991 to make way for the estate and a holiday
resort.

On Saturday, villagers stormed a plant that supplies power to
the industrial estate and later threatened to occupy the estate
itself.

Bintan Beach International Resort, a popular holiday
destination for Singaporeans, was also open for business,
although it received only 264 visitors, compared with 580
visitors on a normal weekday, SembCorp. said.