PDAM Jaya employees rally at embassies
PDAM Jaya employees rally at embassies
JAKARTA (JP): At least 300 employees of city tap water company
PDAM Jaya rallied at the British and French embassies on Thursday
to draw attention to their dispute with the company's foreign
partners from the two countries.
Dressed in their uniforms and with headbands stating their
cause, the employees visited the British embassy on Jl. Thamrin,
Central Jakarta, at about 11 a.m. They left one hour later and
headed to the French mission on the same street.
At the embassies, four representatives of the employees met
with British Ambassador Robin Christopher and French Ambassador
Gerard Cross.
According to the protesters' spokesman Zaenal, the ambassadors
understood the dispute and "promised to help solve the problem".
The employees, who have recently held several protests in
different locations, repeated their demands for the cancellation
of the water management cooperation deals between PDAM Jaya and
Thames Water International of Britain -- in a joint venture
called TPJ -- and Lyonnaise des Eaux of France in the joint
venture Palyja.
"The agreements only bring benefits to the foreign firms. We
therefore want the operation of the joint ventures to be returned
to PDAM Jaya," Zaenal said.
Employees dispersed peacefully from the French embassy at
about 1 p.m. in several PDAM pickups.
In the rallies, the employees also said the foreign firms took
over PDAM Jaya's operations without investing any capital in the
water firm.
They also complained about allegedly discriminatory treatment
of PDAM Jaya's workers compared to the foreign firms' employees.
TPJ and Palyja have repeatedly denied the accusations, saying
they have invested huge amounts of money since the signing of the
water agreement in February last year.
They also said they increased the basic salaries of the
employees and improved their welfare.
A source from the firms said the rally was led by former
employees who were dismissed because they committed "wrongdoing".
(jun)