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Jokowi sends minister to meet Batam businesspeople amid rent dispute
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The Batam Free Trade Zone in Riau Islands is seen from above. (-/-)
I
n response to a situation in Batam in which businesspeople have refused a rise in land rents, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo sent Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution to meet Batam’s businesspeople on Tuesday.
On Monday, representatives of businesspeople in Batam — Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Riau Islands head Makruf Maulana and Kadin’s Batam head Jadi Rajagukguk — met with Jokowi’s chief of staff Teten Masduki in Jakarta to protest new rents issued by the Free Trade Zone Management Body (BP Batam).
Some businesspeople have suspended trading at their shops in Nagoya and Batam Center since Monday, following the distribution of a leaflet asking them to close in support of a campaign to demand the abolition of the so-called annual mandatory authority fee (UWTO).
Rajagukguk said on Tuesday that in response to their complaints, the President, via Teten, sent Darmin to Batam to talk to the businesspeople about plans to revitalize the Batam Free Trade Zone.
“We want policies that do not support business to be revised or revoked,” he said.
Tjaw Hioeng, secretary of the Batam Industrial Zone Association, said he had heard about a meeting with Darmin. “It was a sudden meeting. We don’t know what the government has decided,” he said.
BP Batam announced the raise in UWTO in October. BP Batam said the raise was the first in 25 years and the highest increase was 25 percent. However, businesspeople begged to differ, saying the increases could be as much as 10 times their previous rents. (evi)
