GAM's strike call gets no response from big companies
Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh
The second day of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)'s call for a province-wide strike has gained little response from the Acehnese people. Giant companies such as ExxonMobil, PT Arun, PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda and PT ASEAN Fertilizer, all in North Aceh, continued to operate on Thursday.
Maimun Habsyah, spokesman for state-owned fertilizer company Pupuk Iskandar Muda, confirmed that the call for a total strike had no influence on the factory's daily activities.
"The strike call has had no effect on our daily operation and everything is proceeding normally," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone here on Thursday.
Razali A. Jalil, secretary of ASEAN Fertilizer's labor union, concurred saying no company workers were absent over the last two days and there was no halt in the company's operation.
Both the fertilizer companies located in Lhokseumawe resumed operations last December after regaining supplies of liquefied gas from ExxonMobil in Lhoksukon.
ExxonMobil, an American oil and gas company, was forced to halt operation in March 2001 for security reasons but resumed again on July 19, 2001.
Company' workers praised the tight security in the companies, allowing them to feel secure while at work.
On the second day of the strike, schools were closed but more public transportation vehicles could be seen on the main roads in Banda Aceh, Sigli and Lhokseumawe. Many civil servants went to work but no members of the public came to the government offices.
The condition in the urban areas of Aceh Besar, North Aceh and East Aceh, three regencies which have been GAM strongholds, remained tense as rebels used hit-and-run tactics against security personnel who were patrolling the villages.
At least four rebels were killed in separate exchanges of gunfire with security personnel in Aceh Besar and North Aceh on Thursday.
Chief of the military operation in Aceh Brig. Gen. Djali Jusuf said that 11 rebels were arrested and military personnel seized four guns and several hand grenades in Darussalam.
He said the strike only gained a limited response from the local people in Banda Aceh, Sigli and Lhokseumawe where life went on as usual.
Vice President Hamzah Haz who visited Aceh Singkil on Thursday said the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) which had launched a rebellion against the government for years to fight for the province's independence would never be able to realize its dream.
"Locals should not be influenced by GAM's dream of establishing an independent state since everything they are demanding has been met by the government," he said at the opening of an international seminar on Islam in Singkil, Aceh Singkil regency.
The Vice President called on rebels to end their rebellion, lay down their arms and come out of the forest to resume their normal life to help develop the province that has been given wide-ranging authority under its special autonomy status.
Meanwhile, GAM spokesman Tengku Sofyan Dawood said GAM was satisfied with the positive response given by the Acehnese people to its call for a three-day total strike.
"Under serious threat from the military, most people have shown a positive response to GAM's call," he said in a press release here on Thursday.
He said security authorities should respect the people's right to strike and should not intimidate teachers and bus owners and drivers into continuing with their daily activities.