Farmers attack, loot Lampung shrimp firm

JAKARTA (JP): Around 2,500 farmers ran riot on the vast shrimp farm owned by PT Wahyuni Mandira in the district of Ogan Komering Ilir in Lampung, burning, looting and destroying almost all facilities on the 170,000-hectare site.

Antara reported on Thursday that the rioters went on the rampage in the area, which lies 300 kilometers north of Bandarlampung, on Saturday night after PT Wahyuni ignored their request for an improvement in the terms of their business relationship with the company.

PT Wahyuni, whose multi-million dollar shrimp farming venture is billed as one of the largest and most modern in Southeast Asia, is among the fixed assets handed over to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) by the Gajah Tunggal Group in lieu of its Rp 28.4 trillion debts.

The news agency said the angry farmers, who themselves raise shrimps under technical and marketing cooperation with PT Wahyuni, destroyed the company's offices, workers' dormitories and other facilities in the vast complex.

The farmers were frustrated and angered by the slow response to their demands for better terms and conditions in their contracts with the company, the reports said.

"They burnt almost everything, looted the ponds and even stole the workers' personal belongings. Our operation is now totally paralyzed," Viria Bakti, a spokesman for the company, was quoted as saying.

The workers were evacuated safely to a nearby shrimp farming area also owned by the Gajah Tunggal Group. No casualties were reported.

PT Wahyuni has developed more than 20,000 hectares of the 170,000 hectare site that it holds land use rights to in the area. It employs 2,500 workers and provides a further 3,000 shrimp farmers with extension and marketing services. (vin)