Semen Cibinong keeps operating

Semen Cibinong keeps operating

JAKARTA (JP): Cement producer PT Semen Cibinong announced
Saturday that workers' unrest at the unit four of the Narogong
plant in West Java has not affected its operation.

"Physical conditions of the plant, the mine, and the cement
transportation sector have not been disrupted, operation
continues as normal," Semen Cibinong president Hashim
Djojohadikusumo said in a statement Saturday.

Hashim said the construction of the unit four of the plant
site, also located in Narogong, would continue despite the
unrest.

On Saturday morning, 1,000 casual workers of the expansion
project at the unit four caused havoc at the plant site,
destroying and burning the plant's sentry post and security guard
office.

The riot was said to have been caused by the arrest the
previous day of four construction workers who were caught
stealing construction materials.

The company said the rioting workers demanded that their four
coworkers be freed.

It said the police and the military of Bogor, West Java, came
to calm the workers within three hours and no major damage or
casualties were reported.

Semen Cibinong's Narogong and Cilacap plants produce 8,000
tons of cement respectively a day

The publicly listed company is owned by the Tirtamas Group,
controlled by Hashim.

It is now able to produce 7.1 million tons of cement a year.
About 3 million tons of which can be produced at the Narogong
plant and the remaining 4.1 million tons at its two plants in
Cilacap, the company said.

The company aims to sell over 5 million tons of cement this
year, it said. (das)