PDAM Jaya labor union members questioned
JAKARTA (JP): At least 18 members of the labor union at city- owned water company PDAM Jaya were questioned by city inspectorate officials on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in a series of protests against the company in April, an official said.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the 18 people were questioned because they were believed to have violated various regulations, including taking part in the protests, encouraging other employees to join the protests and drinking on the job.
"The results of the questioning are expected to be significant. Just wait and see," the official said.
As reported earlier, members of the labor union at PDAM Jaya held a string of protests demanding the company revoke its cooperation agreement with two foreign firms; PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Thames Jaya (TPJ).
The head of PDAM Jaya's labor union, Moerdiyanto, was among those questioned on Wednesday. It is alleged he organized and led PDAM Jaya employees in the protests, urged customers not to pay their water bills, instructed employees not to go to work, intimidated employees who refused to join the protests and damaged company facilities.
Other high-ranking members of the PDAM Jaya labor union who were questioned by inspectorate officials included Sulistyo, R. Setyadi and Indra Cahya.
"If the inspectorate office cannot finish questioning all of the suspects on Wednesday, the questioning will continue on Thursday. That's it," the official said.
He added that board members at TPJ and Palyja were questioned on Tuesday about the protests.
Palyja commissioner Bernard Lafrogne confirmed the board of directors of Palyja and TPJ were questioned on Tuesday, adding that he was not able to meet with inspectorate officials due to previous engagements.
"Two staff members from Palyja, Fred and Rasan, represented me during the questioning on Tuesday. This questioning is quite important ... it will hopefully be beneficial for future water services. Hopefully, there will be no more protests," Bernard said.
Earlier, Moerdiyanto said PDAM Jaya employees were protesting because they did not want to work for TPJ and Palyja.
Of the 3,000 PDAM Jaya employees, 1,500 are assigned to work for Palyja, 1,300 for TPJ and the remaining 200 work at PDAM Jaya headquarters.
"Our contracts are for PT Garuda Dipta Semesta (GDS) and PT Kekar Pola Airindo (Kati)," Moerdiyanto said.
He was referring to PDAM Jaya's partners before it signed the cooperation agreement with TPJ and Palyja.
GDS, owned by Anthony Salim, an associate of former president Soeharto, cooperated with Lyonnaise des Eaux of France to manage water distribution in the western part of the capital. Kati was a joint venture company between Soeharto's son Sigit Hardjojudanto and Thames Water International of Britain. The company managed water distribution in the eastern part of the city.(ylt)