Environmental Protests Cause Indonesia to Halt Indorayon's Operations
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3/22/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Environmental Protests Cause Indonesia to Halt Indorayon's
Operations
Source: Reuters Limited
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: March 22, 1999
JAKARTA - Indonesia has decided to halt operations at PT Inti
Indorayon Utama, recently hit by a series of environmental protests,
the governor of North Sumatra province said.
Governor Rizal Nurdin said the closure would come ahead of a decision
on whether to close the operations permanently. He was speaking after
a meeting with President B.J.Habibie. Four people were hospitalised
with gunshot wounds on Thursday after police opened fire on a protest
over logging by the firm in North Sumatra province.
"The president has decided today to halt Indorayon's operations
temporarily. The Toba Lake Lovers Association will submit its input
within two weeks," Nurdin said.
He said that the association is currently preparing a report
concerning the impact of the company's operations on the environment
and will present it to the government within two weeks.
The Toba Lake Lovers Association is headed by Midian Sirait, former
director general of Indonesia's Drug and Food Control Agency. It is a
local environmental group which has taken an interest in the case.
Indorayon has been accused by environmentalists of overcutting timber
near North Sumatra's picturesque Lake Toba in a series of sometimes
violent protests, which began last year. The protests became more
intense after the fall of former President Suharto from power last
May.
Indorayon is a pulp and rayon fibre company, controlled by the Tanoto
family which had powerful political connections during Suharto's 32
years in power.