South Kalimantan Police Chief calls villagers to end blockade at Arutmin
Wednesday, March 14 2001 - 05:00 AM WIB
South Kalimantan Police Chief Brig. Gen. Basyir Akhmad Barmawi called on the protesting Sepapah villagers in Kotabaru area to end their road blockade at mining site of coal mining company PT Arutmin Indonesia, a subsidiary of Australian giant miner BHP.
The local Banjarmasin Post daily said that the Police Chief made the appeal during a meeting Tuesday with legal counselors of the protesting villagers.
The Sepapah villagers has made the road blockade since March 7 as a protest to demand compensation for their land acquired by Arutmin.
But Arutmin had said that it had paid the land compensation via the local village head.
Banjarmasin Post said that the Police Chief also planned to visit the Sepapah village soon.
Separately, Arutmin official Syamsul Alam welcome the meeting. He expected the road blockade to be ended soon because it had affected the company's operation and affected foreign investor sentiment in the province.(*)