Riau Students Demand Nationalisation Of Oil And Gas Assets

Pekanbaru, Riau, Oct 9 (Antara) - Hundreds of students staged a rally outside the office of the upstream oil and gas regulatory special task force, SKK Migas, on Wednesday, demanding the nationalisation of oil and gas assets in Riau Province. "We do not want the government to hand over the management of oil and gas assets to foreign companies. We have state oil and gas company Pertamina that can manage them," said the rally`s coordinator, Yopi Pranoto. The students who hailed from a number of universities in Riau carried the flags of their respective organisations and unfurled banners, demanding the nationalisation of oil and gas assets. "We urge SKK Migas to serve as a `motor` of the government rather than supporting the foreign control of national oil and gas assets," Yopi said. In the tightly guarded rally, the students, grouped in the Riau chapter of the All-Indonesia Students` Executive Board (BEM), urged officials of SKK-Migas to meet them and respond to their demand. "Besides demanding the nationalisation of oil and gas assets, we also urged the government to revoke or revise Law No. 22/2001 on Oil and Gas, which does not seem to favour the public," he said.