Thiess to up production within 24 hours

PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia, one of the contractors of coal mining giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), will increase production level within 24 hours as it has dropped due to workers strike.

Thiess said in a statement sent to Petromindo.com on Saturday it had started recruitment process to anticipate possible large scale termination of workers if current negotiation with the protesting employees turns into a dead lock.

?Thiess remains firmly committed to the legal process and is disappointed that employees have continued with their illegal strike. We have managed to continue operations at the site during the strike and will increase our resource and production levels within the next twenty four hours,? company director Sam Rumende said in the statement.

Some 200 workers have staged a strike during the past four days at KPC?s Sangatta mining sites in East Kalimantan. Local press reports said that the protest was related to demand for higher payment of extra working hours.

A KPC spokesman said earlier that the strike had cost KPC some 9,000 tons of coal per day. Normally, KPC produces some 50,000 tons of coal per day.

Thiess, along with PT Parmapersada Nusantara, and PT Petrosea are the contractors of KPC.(*)