Villagers taken hostage Caltex cars

Protesting villagers have taken over some 12 vehicles belonging to oil and gas firm PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia and its sub contractor during a protest, the local Riau Post daily reported.

The paper said that the villagers demanded Caltex to annul the company's earlier decision to dismiss the villagers as the company's informal security staffs because they have no other jobs.

The taking over of the car assets started on Wednesday. Until late on Friday, the villagers still held the vehicles.

Caltex hired more than 200 villagers in November last year to back up the company's permanent security officers in protecting the company's assets during massive demonstration by the employees of its sub contractors. The company has told the villagers that they would only be temporary staffs, not permanent employees. The company decided in December to dismiss the temporary security staffs because according to the government regulation, foreign oil and gas companies are not allowed to have informal security staffs.

But the villagers protested the decision.(*)