OPERATION OF DRYDOCKS WORLD GRAHA POSTPONED

Batam, Riau Island, April 26 (ANTARA) - The operations of PT Drydocks Graha World scheduled to be resumed on Monday (April 26) had been postponed indefinitely.

"It is true the resumption of operations had been postponed as repairs have yet to be completed" the Barelang police chief said after meeting the management of Drydocks here Sunday.

He said the damage at Drydocks World Graha was serious, and repairs appeared to last longer.

With regards to the wages of the workers during the repair of the drydocks, he said wages would still be paid under the prevailing regulations.

In the meantime, Chief Executive Officer of Drydocks World for Southeast Asia Denis Welch hoped the working conditions at Drydocks World Graha in Tanjunguncang, Batam, would return to normal so that orders could be met according to schedule.

"We are building several projects, such as a jack-up and a semi-submersible rig which could be operated in only certain areas in the world," he said.

Welch said he had already contacted the management of two foreign customers not to worry because their orders would be completed according to schedule.

Resumption of the company's operations, he said, was necessary to maintain the good name of the company, Batam city as well as Indonesia.

He admitted, however, that Thursdays' riots constituted a traumatic incident for himself as a person, as well as for his colleagues.

Drydocks World Graha (PT Graha Trisakti Industri) was being ransacked by thousands of workers on Thursday (April 22) morning who felt insulted by a statement an Indian supervisor, so that the subsidiary of Drydocks World Dubai became temporarily paralyzed.
World Graha was set up in 2007 after its principal in Dubai took over the shares of Labroy Pte Ltd., Singapore, an offshore oil and gas drilling company sitting on 49.5 hectares of land near Drydocks World Pertama and Drydocks World Nan Indah.

Welch said Drydocks Graha employed almost 20.000 people, and as management for Southeast Asia he has a mission of increasing the number of regular workers and building a training center.