Residents riot over sand mining

SERANG, Banten: Dozens of residents in Lontar subdistrict attacked on Friday night the Lontar subdistrict office and dumped some 15 tons of rice in the street.

The rice was given to local residents as compensation by sand mining firm PT Jetstar to appease them after earlier demonstrations caused by fears of environmental damage.

The angry residents went on a rampage after discovering that three ships belonging to the company were moored off of Lontar beach in the subdistrict and were there to mine sand from the area.

Separately, Henry Hartono, the director of PT Jetstar, asserted that the sand mining activities were legal and it would not damage the environment near the beach, claiming that there were no sea species living in the area. -- Antara