Jakarta – Hundreds of ex-workers of Tangerang tap water company (PDAM) Tirta Benteng staged a rally in front of the Tangerang Administration Office on Monday demanding their jobs back.

The workers also demanded that the company fire its general director,Tony Wismantoro, for firing hundreds of contract workers. "[PDAM Tangerang] fired 212 out 275 contract workers," said the rally's coordinator, Hamdan Supriadi.

He said the company's management announced on Jan. 24 that it would carry out reselection for contract workers on Jan. 26.

Tony Wismantoro said that he had to reselect workers because the company was overstaffed and caused the budget for wages to increase. The ballooning budget resulted in the company receiving disclaimer status from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), he said.

"Before the reselection, there were 464 PDAM workers, 189 permanent and 275 contract. The recruitment regulation states that for every 1,000 customers, the company needs six workers. We have 27,000 customers now, meaning the ideal number of workers is 257," he said.