West Sumatrans want spin-off be realized
West Sumatrans want spin-off be realized
PADANG, West Sumatra (JP): West Sumatran prominent public
figures and the provincial legislative council have urged
President Megawati to pay serious attention to their demand for
the spin-off of cement company PT Semen Padang from parent PT
Semen Gresik.
Provincial legislative council speaker Arwan Kasri told the
media here on Sunday that the council had delivered a petition
regarding the community's aspirations about the company's
separation to the President during a closed-door meeting prior to
her return to Jakarta on the same day.
The controversial demand for the separation of PT Semen Padang
from PT Semen Gresik has been going on for several years -- since
the administration of former president B.J. Habibie and former
president Abdurrahman Wahid -- without any resolution. The local
community has been demanding the spin-off due to its concerns
over foreign ownership of Semen Gresik.
Semen Gresik is 25.53 percent owned by the Mexican-based
cement maker Cemex SA de CV, which has long expressed a desire to
increase its stake in the company.
According to the locals, Semen Padang was built on their
ancestors' land and should therefore remain under Indonesian
ownership.
Megawati, according to Arwan, very much understood the wish of
the people and promised to discuss the problem later in Jakarta.
"The President even called State Secretary/Cabinet Secretary
Bambang Kesowo and Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno to
witness the handover of the petition," he added.
The petition contains three demands, that Semen Padang be
separated from Semen Gresik, that it should not be sold to a
foreign firm and that it be made a state enterprise.
Antara reported that public figures grouped under the Forum
for Minangkabau People's Fight for the Return of Semen Padang
asked Megawati to immediately activate the planned spin-off.
"We also warned the government not to go on with the put
option deal with Cemex," Kamardi Rais Datuk Panjang Simulie, a
forum chairman, said.
Kamardi said they were very much disappointed with Habibie's
and Abdurrahman's lack of response to their demand. "That's why
now we are demanding serious attention from President Megawati to
separate PT Semen Padang from Semen Gresik," he said, adding that
they had also submitted their demands in a letter delivered to
the President during the closed-door meeting.
State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi said
recently that he would establish a special team to examine the
controversial demand.
Laksamana did not explain the structure of the team, but that
it should also listen to the aspirations of local people as well
as from the international community before making a decision.
(28)