Man dies as pedicab raid turns violent<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): One official was killed and two others were
\ninjured when a crackdown by city public order officials on becak
\n(pedicab) drivers turned violent in Roxy and nearby Grogol on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of angry pedicab drivers aided by crowds of people
\narmed themselves with molotov cocktails, machetes, steel bars and
\nstones. They set fire to two pick-up trucks belonging to the city
\nadministration and beat an official to death in the riot provoked
\nby an attempt by the authorities to evict them from the main
\nstreets in the area.<\/p>\n
The riot also caused damage to eight other cars and a
\nmotorcycle and prompted Roxy Mas International Trade Center to
\nsuspend its business.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses said the riot started when the becak drivers and
\nthe crowds attacked some 500 officials from the city
\nadministration arriving at Jl. Zainul Arifin, West Jakarta, to
\nraid pedicabs operating there.<\/p>\n
Raya Siahaan, the head of the city's center for monitoring
\nsocial disorder, said the becak drivers apparently had prior
\nknowledge of the raid and greeted officials with all weapons they
\nhad.<\/p>\n
They stoned five cars dropping off officials coming for the
\ncrackdown at 10.30 am. The officials responded by trying to hit
\nrioters with their batons. They fled, however, when they realized
\nthey were outnumbered.<\/p>\n
The rioters chased the officials and set fire to a Toyota
\nKijang car owned by the city administration.<\/p>\n
Central Jakarta Police officers tried to disperse the mob by
\nfiring tear gas.<\/p>\n
Some continued to chase officials escaping toward Jl. Hashim
\nAsyari, Central Jakarta, while some others marched toward Jl.
\nKiyai Tapa and Jl. S. Parman in Grogol, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
On Jl. Hashim Asyari near Roxy Mas International Trade Center,
\nthey badly beat an official named Matsani and burned down another
\ncar belonging to the municipal administration.<\/p>\n
Matsani, 52, died after being treated at a nearby hospital.<\/p>\n
The crowd moving toward Grogol destroyed two cars also owned
\nby the city administration. After reaching the former West
\nJakarta mayoralty building on Jl. S. Parman they destroyed
\nseveral cars and a motorcycle.<\/p>\n
Siahaan insisted that the municipal administration would
\ncontinue to crackdown on becak.<\/p>\n
\"The incident will not stop us from conducting raids on
\npedicabs,\" he said, arguing that the city administration had
\nbanned becak from operating in the city through Regulation No.
\n11\/1988.<\/p>\n
Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang said
\nthat they had yet to arrest any suspect in the incident.<\/p>\n
\"We will continue to investigate the case,\" he said.<\/p>\n
On Monday, some 74 pedicab drivers set up a union with the
\nsupport of Urban Poor Consortium, a non-governmental
\norganization, to fight attempts to evict them from the city.<\/p>\n
The Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) condemned the raid saying it
\nwas against the law.<\/p>\n
The becak drivers intend to fight for their right to operate
\nin the capital.<\/p>\n
\"We have received information that becak drivers and street
\nvendors from Greater Jakarta will hold a rally at the City
\nCouncil on Wednesday,\" Paulus R. Mahulette, the operational
\ndirector of LBH's Jakarta chapter, was quoted by Antara as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
In a related development, about 200 native Jakartans grouped
\nunder the Betawi Security Movement (Gerak Betawi), staged a rally
\nat the Central Jakarta mayoralty building as a display of support
\nfor the ban on becak in the city.<\/p>\n
Lulung, the leader of the group, told The Jakarta Post that
\nthe operation of becak was against city regulations, \"that's why
\nwe oppose their operation.\"<\/p>\n
The authorities phased out the pedicabs in 1988 due to
\nworsening traffic jams in the city, claiming they were inhumane
\nto the drivers. But, economic conditions have caused an influx of
\npeople from outside the city seeking work as becak drivers. (04)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/man-dies-as-pedicab-raid-turns-violent-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}