Muhamad Al Azhari

Villagers End Mine Blockade After Talks With Inco

Villagers in Sorowako, South Sulawesi, have ended their protest against PT International Nickel Indonesia — which is planning a major restructuring with job cuts — after it promised to pay out severance packages and invest in community development, an Inco spokesman said on Tuesday.

Inco, the country’s largest nickel producer, announced plans last week to lay-off 87 employees as part of a cost-cutting drive, although company sources have said the number could eventually reach 500 to 600 by the end of the year.

The announcement immediately sparked an angry response from the villagers, many of whom either work at the mine or who have relatives who do. Since Aug. 4, hundreds of villagers had blockaded a key road connecting an employee housing compound to the mine.

But the protest ended on Tuesday after the miner’s management agreed to help workers who had lost their job by giving them and other villagers employment in community development projects. Local representatives and Inco management first met on Monday to discuss the plans.

“The villagers agreed to halt their action,” Janus Siahaan, Inco’s communications director, told the Jakarta Globe by telephone, adding that the firm would proceed with its restructuring plan.

He did not offer details of the severance packages or planned development projects.

“They understand that the restructuring plan is an internal company matter. So, they’ve basically come to accept it” as long as the company complies with the Labor Law, which sets out guidlines for staff reductions, Janus said.

Andi Duding, the head of the Sorowako Indigenous People’s Association (KWAS), which represents the villagers, said that “those who are affected by the restructuring plan should be given compensation, and Inco must also abide by its promise to put money into community development programs.”

The villagers have demanded assurances from the nickel producer that it would meet its promises on health care, infrastructure and educational programs in the area surrounding the mine as part of its corporate social responsibility obligations.

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