Don't let PT Dirgantara Indonesia Collapse

Ironic and tragic are perhaps the most appropriate adjectives to portray the condition of Indonesia's aircraft-making company PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI). In the first half of this week this week or last week?, PTDI was rocked by protest rallies and mass strikes by thousands of its own employees.

Therefore, the government must immediately find the best solution to this problem to prevent it from dragging on and aggravating the company's situation. It would be highly regrettable if PTDI, whose establishment at first received a lot of opposition and which later tended to become a beacon-like project, were to collapse merely because of being jolted by protest rallies.

If the State Minister of State Enterprises reaches the conclusion that the company's board of directors should be replaced, that should be carried out through the prevailing legal mechanism. The new board of directors must be appointed through a fit-and-proper test free from either vengeful elements or political interests.

Likewise, if the results of studies on and investigations into the employees' allegations against the board of directors cannot be verified, the government must show a firm attitude that still allows the prevailing legal norms to take precedence. This means that if the findings from the employees and the accusations they have leveled are more slanderous and baseless than true, the government and legal apparatus must not hesitate to impose legal sanctions on them.

-- Pikiran Rakyat, Bandung