BP sued by local company
JAKARTA: A local supplier company sued the British-American petroleum company BP at the South Jakarta District Court for allegedly suspending their contract unlawfully.
PT Mestaco Swarnadwipa demanded the court announce that BP was against the law by violating the contract and demanded US$650 million in compensation from BP.
PT Mestaco had supplied Halon 1301, the kind of gas used for fire extinguishers, since 1998 to BP. However, in November 2000, BP accused PT Mestako of supplying a different type of gas and terminated the working contract.
The company insisted it had never supplied any other type of gas but Halon 1301 to BP. It claimed BP's accusation had damaged its reputation in the business.
BP's lawyer, Eri Hertiawan, said that BP terminated its working contract with the plaintiff as it had violated the contract by supplying BP with a gas that was different to Halon 1301.
Presiding Judge Bachtiar adjourned the hearing until next week. -- JP
JP;BBN; ANPAj..r.. Focus-investor-sewage Investor condition on sewage objected JP/8/GREAT2
Investor condition on sewage objected
JAKARTA: Assistant to the city secretary for development affairs, Irzal Jamal, said on Thursday that the development of a sewage management system, scheduled to begin this month, has to be delayed as the Memorandum of Implementation (MoI) has yet to be agreed upon.
The administration objected to the condition set by Global Grid, the Australian investor, in the Rp 50 trillion (US$5.75 billion) project.
Irzal said the company had agreed in an earlier agreement to cover all costs of the investment but later it added in the MoI draft that the administration must cover any additional expenses should contributions from customers be inadequate.
The MoI is scheduled to be signed this month, followed by the first investment from the company worth $5 million for a feasibility study and mapping the Jakarta area.
The company, which will start the piping construction next year, will hand over the facility in 25 years under a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) scheme.
Irzal said the company would cooperate with the city's sewage firm, PD PAL Jaya, which currently serves the Setiabudi area in South Jakarta, since the latter could not manage all Jakartans' waste. -- JP
;JP;YAN; ANPAj..r.. Focus-workers-poisoning 150 workers suffer food poisoning JP/8/GREAT3
150 workers suffer food poisoning
JAKARTA: Around 150 workers at the Carrefour hypermarket in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, suffered from food poisoning and were rushed to the Setia Mitra Hospital on Jl. R.S. Fatmawati, South Jakarta, on Thursday. As of Thursday afternoon, at least 27 workers were still hospitalized.
Fatimah, 27, one of the workers said she had felt dizzy and nauseous since Wednesday afternoon. She had consumed rice, chicken and fried noodles on Wednesday.
Despite taking medicine, she still felt the same symptoms on Thursday. She was surprised to hear that most of her friends also suffered the same complaints.
Antara reported that the hypermarket management could not be contacted for comment while the hospital was still unsure about the cause of the food poisoning. -- JP
;JP;YAN; ANPAj..r.. Focus-restaurant-Amigos Adios Amigos, starting June 30 JP/8/GREAT4
Adios Amigos, starting June 30
JAKARTA: PT Setiamandiri Mitratama Tbk. is closing down Amigos Restaurant, or The Green Pub, in the Djakarta Theater building on June 30.
Established in 1980 by Kiki Sailan and Ron Mullers, Amigos, which mainly serves Mexican food, has been operating in the city for 22 years.
The Djakarta Theater building has been closed while undergoing renovations. The theater itself will be replaced by a cineplex owned by the Subentra Group, which dominates the country's cineplexes. -- JP
;JP;YAN; ANPAj..r.. ~Focus-school Students join In-Docs Junior Camp JP/8/GREAT5
Students join In-Docs Junior Camp
JAKARTA: Eighteen high school students will take part in the In-Docs Junior Camp on Kelapa Island in Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) regency from July 1 to July 14.
The camp is a training program for the students to learn how to make documentary films in a local community to enable them to find a solution to the community's social problems.
During the camp, the 18 students will join local teenagers in producing six documentary series about people's lives on Kelapa island. The movies will be presented in front of the island's residents, JIFFest 2002 and broadcast on TV.
Out of 48 participants, only 18 have qualified to join the training based on their essays about existing social problems in the capital. -- JP