Jakarta – Separate groups of farmers and workers demonstrated in the western Indonesian city of Medan on Tuesday over land appropriation and wages, the Suara Pembaruan evening daily said.

Some 500 farmers went to the local parliament in the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan to reclaim land rights from a private firm they claimed had forced them into giving up the land.

The paper said posters carried by the farmers from the North Sumatra provincial town of Labuhan Batu read: "The people are hungry," "We need food" and "We want our land back." The farmers claimed the firm had used the military to force them into clearing off their land.

In another demonstration, around 150 striking workers from a plastics factory protested for a wage hike. "We will stay on strike until the company meets our demands," one worker was quoted as saying by the evening paper. It added neither group of protestors had managed to meet with local officials.