Swarming like ants, dozens of men were crowding the sugar mill of Gempolkerep, Mojokerto, East Java, two weeks ago. For hours, they moved back and forth between a warehouse and an escalator. The workers were busily loading numerous sacks containing thousands of kilograms of granulated sugar onto a truck. They cracked jokes time and again, laughing amid the rumble of machines.

The plant on the banks of the Brantas River has two large warehouses.