Customers protest at BI

SURABAYA: A demonstration of hundreds of customers of the Cipta Arta Lestari secondary bank entered its second day on Tuesday when the protesters marched to the provincial branch of the central bank, Bank Indonesia (BI).

Demonstrators who crowded the Bank's grounds on Jl. Pahlawan unfurled a banner reading "Post of Cipta Arta Lestari bank customers, Allahu Akbar (God is Great)" while security personnel looked on. The protesters said they were forced to go to BI as they could no longer withdraw their money from Cipta Arta.

Cipta Arta had been sealed and the management has promised to return customers' money in five months, Antara reported Tuesday.

"We will stay here until we get information from Jakarta because BI told us to wait for a meeting in Jakarta," said customer Suwadi, who said he had about Rp 6 million (US$520) in Cipta Arta. The bank owned by Cipto has around 3,000 customers in Surabaya.

Some customers said they wanted to burn down the bank after failing to locate the owner. Suwadi said he had been a customer for four years, and that interest rates had reached 35 percent before the bank was suddenly closed.