President's remark upsets Riau council

President's remark upsets Riau council

PEKANBARU, Riau: The provincial council plans to send a letter
to President Abdurrahman Wahid protesting his recent remark that
calls for independence in Riau were "nonsense", council speaker
H. Chaidir said here on Friday.

Chaidir regretted the statement, saying that it ridiculed
people in the province.

"It is therefore only understandable that people in Riau
became angry. I believe that all people in Riau were offended by
the remark," he said as quoted by Antara.

When recently asked about demands by some people in Riau for
independence, Abdurrahman said the province did not have the
ability or the capacity to stand on its own.

Chaidir said the people of Riau could one day boycott all oil
tankers and oil-related activities if the central government
continued to ignore the province's aspirations.

"Yes, we can cause oil production in Riau to come to a stop
for some time. Then it will become obvious how much Riau's oil is
contributing to the national economy and whether it is true that
Riau does not have the capacity to become independent," Chaidir
said.