Regents and mayors support cement compnay spin-off

Kasparman, The Jakarta Post, Padang, West Sumatra

Public pressure is mounting for the government to spin off state cement company PT Semen Padang here from its parent PT Semen Gresik in East Java after all 15 mayors and regents in West Sumatra announced their support for the demand.

The local administration heads gave their backing in a letter they will send to President Megawati Soekarnoputri, with copies going to House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung and State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi in Jakarta.

The joint statement followed a huge rally on Monday to voice local opposition to the sale of the company as part of the government's nationwide privatization program.

Thousands of protesters went to the provincial legislature to voice their demands, before moving to the Tri Arga state building in Bukittinggi, where Governor Zainal Bakar and all the mayors and regents were holding a meeting. It took the crowd two hours to reach Bukittinggi.

Braving heavy rain, they rallied in front of the Tri Arga building, where speakers addressed the crowd.

Made up of activists, students and farmers, the crowd also urged the governor to appoint a new board of directors by next Thursday at the latest.

"We are not satisfied with the governor's efforts in conveying our demands to the central government," one of the protesters, Yul Achiarli Satra, said.

During a rally here last November, the governor was given a mandate to reshuffle the company's board of directors.

Jakarta has delayed the sale of PT Semen Padang due to the stiff opposition.

Zainal received a number of representatives of the protesters for talks, which were also attended by the mayors and regents. He said he was committed to the job the people had entrusted him with.

"But the central government has so far remained silent about our demands," Zainal told the representatives.

Unlike the mayors and regents, Zainal did not sign the statement.

The local government chief executives said they had learned from their counterparts in South Sulawesi that the people there were united in demanding that the government spin off cement producer PT Semen Tonasa from PT Semen Gresik.

They also pledged to support any steps taken by Zainal to bring the spin-off proposal to fruition.

"This (company) is our pride. Therefore, we have to defend it," Padang mayor Zuiyen Rais said.

Following PT Semen Gresik's decision to sell 25 percent of its shares to Mexican cement producer Cemex SA last year, certain people began to demand for the government to spin off Semen Padang from Semen Gresik as they opposed the entrance of the foreign company.

Semen Gresik owns 100 percent of the shares of PT Semen Padang and PT Semen Tonasa.