Striking workers cripple seaport

JAKARTA (JP): Some 850 workers of the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) in Tanjung Priok seaport, North Jakarta, went on strike on Monday, leaving the usually hectic port deserted and thousands of containers untouched at the docked vessels.

None of the JICT management could be reached for comment, but reports said they would take stiff measures against the striking workers.

The workers, who staged the rally at the House of Representatives building, said they were dissatisfied with the privatization of terminal activities at the international seaport, saying that the deal was full of irregularities.

"We will ask for an explanation for the action from JICT's board of directors. We want to know what really was the problem," the spokesman of the state-owned seaport operator PT Pelindo II, Sudjarwo, told The Jakarta Post by phone.

PT Pelindo is one of JICT's shareholders.

Sudjarwo said the terminal earned about US$1 million a day.

"Income is always fluctuating. Most companies do their business there on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays," he said.

"We don't know yet how much the terminal suffered in terms of losses because of the strike," he said. (nvn)