TPL urges police to stop vandalism

TPL urges police to stop vandalism

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) has urged local police to investigate
vandalism targeting trucks carrying raw materials heading from
and to the pulp mill in Porsea district here, Toba Samosir
regency.

Company spokesman Chairuddin Pasaribu said that unruly crowds
often pelted stones and placed sharp objects on the road where
the trucks passed by, and this had certainly disturbed the
company's operations.

"The acts of vandalism have gone on for a year. We demand that
the police investigate the irresponsible parties behind the
vandalism and prosecute them in accordance with the law,"
Chairuddin said.

Chairuddin asserted that it is was high time the police
investigated the vandalism, because it had gone too far, and had
even claimed one life.

The fatality, an assistant driver of a tanker supplying glue
to the plywood factory in Sibolga, was found dead after being hit
by a rock in an attack by an unruly crowd last month.

The incident took place when the tanker was on its way to
Porsea. While passing through Lumbanjulu village, the crowd
hurled large rocks at the truck and one hit the driver's
assistant, killing him on the spot.

The vandalism has also inflicted great material damage as
hundreds of truck windshields have been broken and tires damaged
due to sharp objects laid on the road leading to the factory.

"Material losses mean nothing compared to the continued
feeling of fear and insecurity. The police have to solve this
matter immediately," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Porsea Police chief, Adj. Comr. Albert Hutabarat, confirmed
that vandalism still continued because some elements of local
community had yet to accept the presence of the pulp mill in
Porsea.

Protests by the local community and non-governmental
organizations have been commonplace since the company began
operations in March last year, over fear that the operation of
the mill would increase pollution in the area.

Albert said that the police had arrested several perpetrators
of the vandalism, and they had even been prosecuted.

Six people suspected of pelting stones at trucks had been
arrested and had even been sentenced to between three-and-a-half
years and nine years in prison.

"One of them was a student from a private university in
Medan," Albert said, adding that the perpetrators routinely
terrorized truck drivers from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Due to strong actions by the police, the number of incidents
has decreased. In January this year, there were only 12 incidents
of vandalism in Lumban Huala and Lumban Gurning villages. It was
a sharp decrease, from two to three times that number in the
previous months.

"The police will step up efforts to persuade community leaders
to ask the people not to commit the acts of vandalism in the
future," Albert said.