Jakarta – Thousands rallied Tuesday in an Indonesian province to demand the central government cancel the sale of a local cement plant in another blow to Jakarta's stalled privatisation programme.
Workers at Semen Tonasa and their supporters gathered outside the provincial parliament at Makassar in South Sulawesi to demand the company be spun off from its parent Semen Gresik, police said.
"They arrived in waves and now they number around 4,000 people," said Harsono, an officer at city police headquarters. "More people are still coming in. The protest is proceeding peacefully and some of their representatives are currently seeking to meet with legislators," Harsono added.
The protest was a new blow to Jakarta's plans to sell its 51-percent stake in Semen Gresik to Mexican cement giant Cemex SA de CV to raise desperately needed cash. On November 1 the provincial parliament in West Sumatra temporarily took over the local Semen Gresik subsidiary, Semen Padang. They want that subsidiary to be separated from the parent.
The government was supposed to sell its stake in Semen Gresik to Cemex, which already holds a 25-percent stake, by October 26. Opposition from the national parliament and the regions delayed the sale. A new deadline of December 14 has been set. South Sulawesi officials say they want Semen Tonasa to remain locally-owned and not to fall into foreign hands.
Most demonstrators in Makassar wore red headbands reading "Spin off, yes," the Detikcom online news service reported. Activists told the crowd that if their calls were unheeded, "the people and the workers of Semen Tonasa" would take over the company, Detikcom reported.
Last week the World Bank warned Jakarta immediately to overrule provincial government attempts to take over local affiliates of Semen Gresik, or put future asset sales at risk.
State Enterprises Minister Laksamana Sukardi has labelled the takeover of Semen Padang as illegal but the government has yet to take any firm action against it. Cemex was to purchase the government's 51-percent holding for some 5.3 trillion rupiah (504 million dollars), or around 80 percent of the government's privatisation target for this year.
The state asset sell-off program has so far netted no revenue. The government is counting partly on privatisation proceeds to finance this year's budget deficit, which is estimated at 5.4 billion dollars or 3.7 percent of gross domestic product.