JIIPE Project Workers In Gresik Find Dutch Mortars

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

GRESIK - One of the workers in the Special Economic Zone (KEK) Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate (JIIPE), Manyar District, Gresik Regency, East Java found a mortar that was suspected to be from the Netherlands in a rusty condition.

Manyar Police Chief AKP Windu Priyo Prayitno confirmed the discovery. The mortar that was found was 25 centimeters long at around 09.00 WIB at the project site.

"The discovery began when workers carried out the process of tightening the soil or stone column conveyor. During the excavation process, there was a suspicious object resembling a tube, then the workers stopped the process and reported it to us," said Windo, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, December 29.

The location of the mortar, said Windu, was one meter deep in the ground, and was hit by a worker's tool, but it did not explode.

"We received the report, and our members immediately carried out sterilization at the location, and put up a police line for security. This is to anticipate things that are not desirable, such as the explosion of a mortar," said Windu.

After seeing the mortar, said Windu, his party coordinated with the Gresik Police and the East Java Police Brimob Explosives Disposal Team (Jhandak) to identify the mortar.

"We suspect this is a mortar or artillery weapon from the colonial era. And officers took quick steps by detonating the object in a safe location," he said.

He appealed to the public to report immediately if they found suspicious objects, and asked the workers at the JIIPE Gresik SEZ to be more careful if they found suspicious items.