VDNI workers demonstration turns violent
Friday, August 11 2023 - 10:02 AM WIB
Hundreds of workers of nickel firm Virtue Dragon Nickel Industry (VDNI) in Morosi, Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province, staged a demonstration on Thursday, which turned violent.
According to a video that was widely circulated on social media, the angry workers tried to vandalize the company’s facilities and nearly clashed with police and military officers guarding the area.
Bondoala Police Chief Agus Darmanto, however, was quoted by local news outlet tribunewsultra.com as saying that the security situation was now under control and conditions in the industrial area have returned to being conducive. He added that there were no fatalities.
Read also: Two injured in VDNI smelter workers' strike-turned-riot
He added that the demonstration was triggered by “miscommunication among workers.”
Meanwhile, another news outlet said that the demonstration was mostly participated by dump truck drivers protesting the lack of transparency of company rules in the transportation division, discriminatory practices, and welfare issues.
On March 22, 2023, two were injured during a workers strike-turned-riot between VDNI management and thousands of its employees in Morosi.
VDNI, a subsidiary of China's Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co., Ltd runs a US$1 billion nickel smelter in Morosi with 15 rotary kiln-electric furnaces and installed production capacity of 800 thousand tons nickel pig iron with 10-12% purity per year. The facility was inaugurated by Industry Minister Airlangga Hartanto on February 25, 2019.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak