PRESS DIGEST-Indonesian Newspapers - Dec 3

Following are some leading stories in the main Indonesian newspapers on Dec 3.

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JAKARTA POST

- MUDFLOW VICTIMS REACH COMPENSATION DEAL WITH BAKRIE GROUP

Victims of the volcanic mudflow in East Java, which has been blamed on an exploration drilling accident by a company controlled by the family of Indonesia's chief social welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie, had reached a new compensation deal, Public Works Minister Joko Kismanto said.

- STATE INSURANCE FIRM BUDGETS FOR POSSIBLE LAYOFFS

Indonesia's state insurance firm, PT Jamsostek, is allocating 5 trillion rupiah ($420.2 million) in cash reserves next year to cope with a possible increase in layoffs due to global economic turmoil, president director Hotbonar Sinaga said.

- THAI INVESTORS TO CONSTRUCT COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT IN JAMBI

Two Thai investors, EGAT Interational Co.Ltd and Intermining and Energy Co. Ltd, plan to construct a 500 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Jambi in Sumatra, governor Zulkifli Nurdin said.

- GASOLINE SETS A RECORD IN EAST KUTAI

The price of subsidised gasoline in East Kutai, a regency in Kalimantan, set a record of 20,000 rupiah a litre just three days after the government cut the official price by around 8 percent to 5,500 rupiah due to supply scarcity.

- PLANNED CEMENT MILL SPARKS CONTROVERSY

A plan by Indonesia's state cement firm, PT Semen Gresik Tbk (SMGR.JK), to build a cement factory in Pati regency, Central Java has raised some environmental concerns.

- DEMAND FOR INDONESIAN WORKERS INCREASES

Indonesia's state agency in charge of Indonesians working overseas (BNP2TKI) says demand for Indonesian migrant workers in the formal overseas sector has increased with hospitals, hotels, transportation and construction companies the main employers.