Teachers want industrialization

SUMENEP, East Java: The Madura branch of the national teachers union PGRI is urging the East Java provincial government to go ahead with its plan to industrialize the largely arid island and ignore the opposition from local Moslem leaders.

Industrialization on Madura, an island off East Java, would improve the welfare of the local populace.

"PGRI is ready to lend a hand," according to a PGRI Madura statement sent to various government offices in Surabaya, capital of East Java, and also to Jakarta.

The government has scrapped its plan to industrialize Madura, including the construction of a bridge linking Surabaya with the island, after the idea was turned down by the local ulemas.

The government is now looking for an alternative site.(emb)