Jakarta – The National Business Development Council has urged the government to immediately deal with security disturbances against the business sector, saying that in 1999 alone, the business sector suffered losses of around Rp5 trillion [US$714 million].

"The plantation sector lost Rp3 trillion, not counting the loss in confidence to Indonesia's export products," the Council's vice president Aburizal Bakrie told reporters in the presence of the Council's president Sofyan Wanandi after having reported the matter to President Abdurrahman Wahid last Friday.

"Disturbances like looting are often carried out in the name of the people," Aburizal said who is also chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

A recent murder attempt against People's Assembly deputy speaker Matori Abudul Djalil had created adverse effects, making Indonesia no longer safe to for investment, including for foreign investors, he said.

Sofyan said theft and looting included that against the crude palm oil industry, which occurred in almost all plantations in Sumatera, Central and East Java and also against coffee plantations and logs.

Also cited were disturbances to LNG exploration suffered by Mobil oil company in Aceh as a result of the security conditions, claims for a pay rise by exployees of Caltex Pacific in Riau province, and a decision of North Sulawesi District Court against Newmont, a gold mining company,. All this ha d resulted in a growing feeling of concern among business circles that frequent security disturbances were occurring in the production process.