Farmers stage protest in Medan

Farmers stage protest in Medan

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Thousands of farmers from a number
of regencies in the province staged a peaceful demonstration at
the governor's office here on Wednesday to demand land ownership
reform.

The farmers, grouped in the People's Movement for Agrarian
Reform, urged the government to settle numerous land disputes in
the province and to draw up a bill on farmers' rights protection.

Escorted by hundreds of security personnel, the farmers
arrived at the office in dozens of buses. They came from Deli
Serdang, Labuhan Batu, Padang Tualang, Langkat and a number of
other areas.

Fifty five representatives of the protesters met with Governor
T. Rizal Nurdin and called on President B.J. Habibie to issue a
presidential decree on land reform and revoke presidential
decrees that inflict losses upon farmers.

Rizal promised to try to settle the land disputes.

During the meeting, thousands of other farmers held a free-
speech forum in the grounds of the governor's office.

Separately, dozens of Nommensen University students protested
at the provincial legislature in Medan to demand lower prices of
basic commodities. "Efforts to rescue the people from the
impending food crisis have not been sufficient," student leader
Kalmon Sinaga said.

In Palu, Central Sulawesi, hundreds of students clashed with
employees of the governor's office on Wednesday as they attempted
to occupy the building. Antara reported that at least 10 people
were injured after the two camps pelted stones at each other.

Two of the injured, identified as Iskandar Lamuka and
Datupila, were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Police are still investigating the motives behind the
students' attack on the building. No arrests have been made so
far.

The news agency also reported that losses from last week's
riots in the town of Bagansiapi-api in the Bengkalis district of
Riau could reach Rp 15 billion.

"Three hundred and twenty two shops, shophouses, office
buildings and houses were badly damaged during the riots,"
Bengkalis district head Fadlah Sulaiman said on Wednesday.

Rebuilding Bagansiapi-api would require at least Rp 1 billion,
he added.

Sulaiman also lamented the authorities slow response to riots,
particularly since a smaller, less destructive riot occurred
three days before the worst of last week's unrest in the town.

The most important thing, Sulaiman said, was to restore
harmony to give the people a sense of security. Bagansiapi-api,
he said, was prone to clashes because of the large social gap
between its residents.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, Mayor H.A. Malik B. Masry
said losses from strikes and demonstrations held in the city
since April had reached around Rp 1.1 billion.

"Employees from eight firms have held demonstrations involving
962 workers," Malik said in a meeting on wages with
representatives of 200 companies here. The Ujungpandang mayoralty
currently lists 50,951 people as unemployed.

Malik said that meeting workers' demands for higher wages was
a dilemma in the eyes of the 5,038 firms which employ 73,827
people in the mayoralty. However, he said, company managements
should at least pay their staff the minimum monthly wage of Rp
129,500. (21/anr/byg)