Petrosea responds

Thank you for your letter of Sept. 16, 1997 that enclosed a copy of a letter from a disgruntled former employee of PT Petrosea. We appreciate the professionalism you demonstrated by asking for our response to the letter.

The circumstances of the termination of Mr. Edi Purwanto were as follows:

For some period of time, PT Petrosea has been working on a management strengthening plan in conjunction with a management consultant to increase our Indonesian staff skills to meet our work commitments. As part of the skills training, the company has a large training facility in Balikpapan where over 350 employees received training last year. To do the training, we hired Mr. Purwanto to further improve our training program and the use of this facility in the interest of present and future employees.

Within days of commencing work (from Aug. 14, 1997 to Sept. 2, 1997), Mr. Purwanto took a series of unacceptable actions, which led to complaints from a number of long-serving senior PT Petrosea personnel. After carefully investigating the facts, our company decided to terminate Mr. Purwanto during the early stage of his trial period. The reason for the termination was supported by some important considerations complete with evidence.

We think that it would be unethical to detail the actions Mr. Purwanto took since they may become the basis of court action, if this is taken. For his other complaint, we need to emphasize that our company has particular policies on our employees. And in practice, we are an equal opportunity employee policy.

We believe your professionalism will be used to leave this unfortunate matter to take its course through normal legal channels.

RAMADANI SOEMARMAN

HR Manager

PT Petrosea

Jakarta