[ad_1]
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Police in the northern Maluku province of Indonesia arrested 8 people linked to a workers’ demonstration that turned violent in a nickel project led by French Eramet and Chinese Tsingshan Holding Group, a Sunday said on Sunday. police spokesman.
A May 1 rally that demanded, among other things, a closure in Indonesia’s Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) during the coronavirus pandemic, turned violent with protesters who destroyed company property and looted food, the spokesperson said. of North Maluku Police Adib Rojikan.
Eight people were named suspects for their involvement in the violence and four others were questioned, Rojikan said by phone.
The workers’ demands included rejecting the layoffs and getting a full salary during the proposed shutdown, as well as blocking parliamentary deliberation in Jakarta on a bill that calls for a sharp cut in severance pay, Rojikan said.
IWIP said in a statement that the two workers unions in the industrial park were not behind the demonstration and accused five university students of provoking some 800 workers to join the demonstration and carry out “anarchic action”.
Some of its offices, various vehicles and heavy machinery were damaged during the violence, IWIP said.
IWIP said that the police had promised to provide security in the park for its operation, but did not specify whether the incident would interrupt production.
Initial-stage production only started at the Weda Bay Nickel Project last Thursday, with a total annual capacity of 30,000 tons.
(Report by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Written by Gayatri Suroyo; Edited by Ed Davies and Michael Perry)
[ad_2]
