PEKANBARU (Riau) — Riau Islands Governor Muhammad Sani has told the Batam chapter of the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (known as Kadin) to scrap its plan to build a statue in honour of former marines Usman Hj Mohd Ali and Harun Said to prevent further friction with Singapore.

“With the current situation, please reconsider (the plan) and do not add more problems,” Mr Sani was quoted as saying by Antara news agency yesterday. The Singapore Government had expressed its concerns over by Jakarta’s decision to name a new frigate after the marines, who were hanged for a 1965 bombing at MacDonald House in the Republic that killed three people. Senior Indonesian military leaders did not attend the Singapore Airshow last week following the outcry over the incident.

Mr Sani was cited in The Jakarta Post as saying Usman and Harun were national heroes and their names had been used for street signs. However, he said Batam Kadin should not add fuel to the fire and should bear in mind that Batam is a stone’s throw away from Singapore. “What is the benefit for us?” he asked.

Batam resident Parulian disagreed with the plan, telling the Post: “Kadin is a group of businesspeople, so they should just deal with business. What if Singaporeans pull their investment?” AGENCIES