Thousands rally in support of Riau administration

Again, thousands of workers grouped in the Riau Workers Solidarity rallied in Pekanbaru on Saturday to show their support to the local government's plan to take over the management and operation of the Coastal Plain Pekanbaru (CPP) oil block, Analisa reported on Monday.

Kapitra Ampera, one of the workers leader, said that the workers fully supported the transfer of the management of the province's natural resources to the provincial administration because the change would be the only way to improve the welfare of the local people.

"We are sure that the change in the management will give more benefit to the workers and the whole communities," he said in his speech during the rally.

The rally was part of series of demonstrations staged by the local workers to express their supports to the local government, which is facing opposition from many parties including the chairman of the Caltex Pacific Indonesia, which is currently operating the oil block.

The oil giant may lose its control in the oil mining when the contract ends next year if the local government reappoints it as the operator of the oil block. CPI chairman Haroen AL-Rasjid questioned the capability of the Riau government in operating the oil block and he said that the transfer of the management of the oil block to the province would create a bad precedence to the country's overall oil and gas industry.

Local politicians and government officials as well as intellectuals criticized Haroen's statement.

The vice chairman of the local legislative council Djuharman Arifin Apt said that Haroen's statement reflected the ignorance of the oil giant's chairman on the autonomy law which will be introduced next year to give more authorities to the provinces in managing their financial resources.

"From his statement, we know that Haroen does not really understand about the autonomy law," he was quoted as saying by Riau Pos. (*).