Major companies in Aceh follow ExxonMobil's lead

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc.'s (EMOI) decision to halt oil and gas production in Aceh province for security reasons has forced other major companies in the area to follow suit.

PT Arun NGL Co. -- a major exporter of liquefied natural gas to Japan and South Korea -- officially stopped operations on Saturday, company spokesman Rustam Effendi said.

"We have to suspend production because the supply of gas as a raw material from ExxonMobil has totally stopped," he said.

Aceh legislators Mustafa A. Glanggang and E.M. Barify separately called on Saturday for the companies to resume operations, Antara said.

"This will certainly create huge losses for both companies and the Aceh people," Glanggang said.

PT Arun, which employs 10 foreign staff members, 1,400 local employees and some 2,400 contract workers, is 55 percent owned by state oil and gas company Pertamina, 35 percent by Mobil Oil Indonesia Inc. and 15 percent by the Japan-Indonesia LNG Co.

EMOI, which operates three oil and gas fields in the North Aceh districts of Lhoksukon, Arun and Pase, and supplies several other major companies in the area with gas and condensate, halted production on Friday amid security concerns.

The company, owned by Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., employs 30 expatriates, about 600 local employees and another 1,500 contractors working at 56 wells.

EMOI operates at an enormous industrial site in North Aceh where violence is common between government forces and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels.

Both PT Arun NGL Co. and EMOI sites have been scenes of conflict.

Records revealed that staff have been kidnapped and threatened, vehicles burned and shots have been fired at both companies' chartered airplanes.

Local reporters, however, described the poor living conditions of people residing near the compound of the giant industrial sites as "a factor that has triggered a strong GAM movement in the area".

PT Arun was evacuating staff from its local airstrip to Medan in neighboring North Sumatra on Saturday.

It is said that on Friday fertilizer plants PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) and PT Asean Aceh Fertilizers (AAF), and paper plant PT Kertas Kraft Aceh (KKA) had production difficulties because of a cut in fuel supplies.

PIM halted plant production Friday because of a gas shortage.

No immediate confirmation was available from the three companies.

A local journalist, however, said that on Saturday security appeared to have been reinforced at EMOI, with armed soldiers guarding all security posts.

Aceh Police chief Brig. Gen. Chaerul Rasyid said after a hearing with provincial legislators on Saturday that the police were ready to provide extensive protection to EMOI, which has so far been guarded by the Army.

"We received a report that GAM rebels have asked for a 'compensation' fund of around Rp 5 billion (US$500,000) per year from those companies," he said.

North Aceh's GAM spokesman Abu Sofyan Daud dismissed the report, saying that "actually we are ready to secure ExxonMobil if TNI/Polri are removed from the area," Sofyan said.

He also said that the company should have given some funds to GAM instead of the military/police as "it will only enrich the Javanese imperialists".

On Saturday and Sunday, however, a massive military deployment took place in the province's capital, Banda Aceh.

Earlier, during a hearing on Saturday, General Chaerul was also quoted by Antara as saying that he was initially scheduled to meet with GAM commander Tengku Abdullah Syafii'e on Feb. 28.

"But that failed to happen as he (Abdullah) did not get permission from GAM in Switzerland," Chaerul said, adding that he still wishes to meet with the rebel leader.

Separately, it was also announced on Saturday that Aceh's Humanitarian Pause was officially renamed Damai Melalui Dialog (Peace Through Dialog), government representative Col. Ridwan Karim said.

"The Switzerland-based Joint Forum (between Indonesia and GAM) has also been renamed as the Joint Council. Under the new arrangement we will focus on extensive consultation among field commanders from both sides," he said.

Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen shot dead an palm-oil plantation worker Yusri A. Gani near his house in Bukit Rata village, East Aceh, on Saturday, plantation official Saifullah said.

A GAM rebel named Jamhur Mahmud, 32, was shot dead in Pasar Garot in Pidie regency on Saturday afternoon when a group of rebels intercepted patrolling officers, Adj. Sr. Comr. Heru Budi Ersanto said.

In Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Sunday the National Police along with the Indonesian Military (TNI) should be involved in internal security.

"I realize the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree no. VI and VII/2000, regarding separation of the roles of TNI and National Police, stipulates that the TNI is to maintain external defense, while the National Police are to manage internal security. But the separatist demands in our two troubled provinces, Aceh and Irian Jaya, have been threatening our stability.

"Our Police are not adequately trained to quell such activities. The duty (to quell the separatist activities) belongs to the TNI," Susilo said. (edt/02/50/51)