Vico says it has paid compensation to ex-employees

Oil and gas firm PT Vico Indonesia said on Wednesday that it had paid compensation to some 284 employees out of the 301 who had to lost job after their working contract ended, denying earlier allegation by around 100 protesting employees.

Vico external relations officer Syaiful Rachman was quoted by the Kaltim Post daily as saying that the remaining 17 ex-employees had yet to come to the company to take the compensation.

?We want to stress here that it?s not true if Vico had violated the agreement reached with the Kutai Kertanegara parliament last year,? Syaiful said.

The local parliament had to become a mediator after hundreds of the ex-employees staged massive demonstration following their dismissal, and an agreement was reached in August last year that Vico would provide around Rp 3.5 million in compensation for each ex-employee.

But around 100 of the ex-employees staged a protest at the parliament on Tuesday, demanding the company to pay the promised compensation. The protesters said that only 100 ex-employees had been paid by Vico.(*)