Governor tells police to clear out protesters

Governor tells police to clear out protesters

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso asked the city police on
Thursday to take possession of the premises of joint-venture
water company Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) from employees of city
water company PDAM Jaya, who have occupied the property since
Tuesday.

Sutiyoso said he asked city police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho
Djajoesman to take immediate action to return the premises on Jl.
Penjernihan in Central Jakarta to Palyja.

"The buildings function as a public water service center.
Occupying the buildings will only cause the termination of all
services and make people suffer," he told reporters at City Hall.

He also asked the police chief to investigate those involved
in the occupation of the premises.

"The police will decide whether the occupation of the
buildings is a crime," he said.

Palyja released a media statement on Thursday claiming that
about 50 members of PDAM Jaya's workers union occupied two
separate offices of Palyja in the Penjernihan area in Central
Jakarta on Wednesday. Both buildings are normally used as a
logistics and technical center and an office for the engineering
consultant department.

Palyja's public relations manager Uraini Umarjadi said members
of the workers union had occupied the buildings and forced all
the workers to leave.

She said the union members had also sprayed the walls of the
buildings with paint. "PDAM Jaya's assets belong to PDAM Jaya,"
read one piece of graffiti.

Members of the workers union have repeatedly demonstrated,
challenging the validity of a 19-month-old water supply agreement
between PDAM Jaya and two foreign partners, PT Thames Pam Jaya
(TPJ) and PT Palyja.

"Water supply and management should be controlled by the
state," they said, quoting Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution.

At least 500 union members earlier this month demonstrated at
the City Council, demanding that Sutiyoso cancel the agreement
before the end of September. They threatened that otherwise they
would disrupt the city's water supply.

Sutiyoso, however, rejected their demands, saying that the
administration would face lawsuits from the foreign firms if it
canceled any deals without a clear legal reason.

The cancellation of the agreement would put PDAM Jaya in a
difficult position, especially since it has a foreign debt worth
Rp 800 billion (US$100 million), Sutiyoso said. (ind)