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)