Four hurt in factory protest

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Four people were seriously injured and 14 others detained when more than 5,000 people tried to occupy the pulp factory of PT Inti Indorayon Utama in Porsea, North Sumatra, on Monday. It was the latest confrontation in a long- running dispute between the factory and locals.

Chairman of the North Sumatra chapter of Environmental Forum (Walhi) Effendy Panjaitan, who monitored the incident, told The Jakarta Post that the four people were shot by personnel from the Police Mobile Brigade.

Security personnel fired rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators who almost occupied the factory, he said.

Effendy said the demonstration was triggered by a misunderstanding which led to the shooting of a youth who was playing volleyball with others near the plant area on Sunday afternoon.

Saut Butar-butar, who remains at Medan's St. Elisabeth Catholic Hospital, was shot in the leg when he tried to retrieve a ball from the nearby road through which a company truck was passing. Security personnel apparently thought the boy was approaching the truck.

On Sunday evening, about 150 angry locals went to the factory site and burned nine trucks for ferrying logs and damaged four others. They also torched the house of an IIU employee and that of a former district head.

Many people living around the company and the Lake Toba have protested repeatedly against the factory for polluting the Asahan River, deforestation and neglect of surrounding villages.

The company has temporarily stopped operations after the government's decision to conduct an audit.

Lt. Col. Amrin Karim. spokesman for the North Sumatra Provincial Police, confirmed the shooting incident and pledged a thorough investigation into the case.

Chairuddin Pasaribu, spokesman for the company, said that the mob burned seven trucks and damaged six others.

"The trucks were burned when they were transporting logs in the government move to audit the factory. The audit cannot be conducted unless the factory's operation resumes," he said.

North Sumatra Governor Rizal Nurdin said recently that the provincial administration had no authority to make a decision on the factory's fate and pledged that he would bring the people's rejection of the factory's continued operation to President B.J. Habibie. Employees have also demonstrated to demand that the factory reopen. (21/rms)