Court threatens to auction Caltex's main office in Rumbai

The main office of PT Caltex Pasific Indonesia (CPI) in Rumbai, Pekanbaru will be auctioned in two weeks if the oil giant refuses to pay compensation amounting to Rp 8 billion (1US$= Rp 8,300) to PT Bachwar John Baspuri (BJP), the Pekanbaru district court has said.

The court spokesman Sarpin Rizaldi said that according to the law, Caltex has two weeks to settle the compensation money to PT Bachwar. "But if it fails to pay the compensation within the two weeks time, the company's main office will be auctioned," he told Riau Pos on Tuesday following the confiscation of the oil giant's main office in Rumbai.

Caltex's main office in Rumbai was confiscated on Tuesday, as the company's bank accounts, which had been seized by the court earlier, were not enough to cover the Rp 8 billion compensation.

Sarpin said that the confiscation order was carried out smoothly and the company's workers were still allowed to carry out their routine works as usual despite the confiscation.

PT Buckwar took Caltex to the court after the oil company unilaterally cut the payment for the cars leased to the oil giant, and it finally won the case. The court ordered Caltex to pay compensation of Rp 8 billion to PT Buckwar but the oil giant rejected the court's decision and appealed to the Supreme Court. But the appeal was turned down. (*)