Villagers blockade access road to Indominco Mandiri
Thursday, July 13 2000 - 03:30 AM WIB
Some 40 villagers of the Santan Tengah area in Bontang, East Kalimantan, blockaded on Wednesday the access road of coal mining firm PT Indominco Mandiri, causing the company to be unable to deliver its coal products to the local port, the local Kaltim Post daily reported.
The road blockade was made by the villagers who have been demanding the company to immediately pay compensation for their land acquired by the company.
The villagers also demanded Indominco to be responsible for its waste products which had polluted the local agriculture land.
But Kaltim Post reported that the local police manage to disperse the demonstrators, possibly on grounds that the demonstrators had not obtained the necessary permit to hold a demonstration.
The paper said that at least two demonstrators were put behind bars.
But several non-governmental organizations and local political parties lambasted the measure by the police, saying that the security seemed to be more in favor of the company than the villagers.
They also called on the police to immediately release the two demonstrators from behind bars.
Bontang Police chief Superintendent Sudjarno was not available for comments. (*)