About 1,000 workers riot at Singapore-owned firm in Batam

About 1,000 workers at a Singapore-owned shipyard engineering firm went on the rampage on Tuesday, setting fire to an office, equipment room and several vehicles after security officers beat up two company employees.

An eyewitness said the trouble began when two workers showed up for duty without their eyeshields and name tags. They were then questioned and allegedly beaten up by security guards and a military officer inside the guard post.

The riot recalled a similar incident 18 months ago at another shipyard there, Dubai-owned Drydocks World Graha.

Tuesday's incident, at the PT Nexus Engineering Indonesia shipyard in eastern Batam's Kabil industrial estate, sent about 30 security guards fleeing in terror.

About 500 Batam police officers - a quarter of the force on the island - were called in, and they managed to bring the situation under control on Tuesday night.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

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