Minor clashes continue in Sambas regency<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Sporadic attacks continue against Madurese
\nmigrants in the West Kalimantan regency of Sambas, provincial
\npolice chief Col. Chaerul Rasjid said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Chaerul was quoted as saying by Antara that security personnel
\nwere in general maintaining order and preventing clashes from
\nescalating.<\/p>\n
His statement came after an overnight incident in which an
\nethnic Malay man was killed and a troop was wounded in
\nSungaikeran hamlet. Both were hit by gunshots.<\/p>\n
A command post officer of the Sambas Police, Maj. Husaini
\nNajiri, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the 50-year-old
\ncivilian, identified as Saleh, died at a local military hospital.
\nA bullet from a makeshift rifle also grazed the chin of Private
\nMarwan Harifah, but he was discharged from the hospital after
\nreceiving treatment.<\/p>\n
Security troops nabbed two alleged rioters, one of them a 15-
\nyear-old male, and seized three homemade rifles, 56 bullets and
\ngunpowder.<\/p>\n
Husaini said security personnel opened fire on a group of
\nMalays and Dayaks from neighboring Sungai Rukmajaya village who
\nfought Madurese settlers and torched six of their houses.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Madurese fled during the peak of the ethnic riots
\nin the province last month.<\/p>\n
About 100 reinforcements from the provincial military and
\npolice have been dispatched to Sungaikeran, according to Husaini.<\/p>\n
Local legislator Bong Cin Nen said a peacekeeping team from
\nthe National Police was mediating talks with community leaders.
\nThe team includes two sociologists.<\/p>\n
Col. Chaerul said that although calm returned to previously
\nriot-hit areas, tension rose to an alarming level in Darit,
\nMandor and Sungairaya districts.<\/p>\n
\"Youth mental development programs we conducted in those three
\nareas have been unsuccessful,\" Chaerul said, adding that more
\nreinforcements were deployed to anticipate possible clashes.<\/p>\n
Clashes pitting the Madurese community against Malays and
\nDayaks erupted in mid-January, claiming at least 200 lives and
\ndriving 29,000 Madurese settlers from their homes.<\/p>\n
Calm<\/p>\n
Calm also is gradually returning to riot-torn Southeast Maluku
\nregency although fears of fresh clashes remain.<\/p>\n
Antara reported local people resumed their daily activities,
\nbut were not leaving their villages.<\/p>\n
Businesses and the public transportation system have yet to
\nfully resume operations. As most shops and markets are still
\nclosed, people cannot buy essential food, particularly rice, palm
\noil and noodles.<\/p>\n
Activity was observed at state bank BRI and private bank
\nDanamon in the regency capital of Tual on Thursday as employees
\ndisbursed their salaries. Military troops were alert around the
\nbanks.<\/p>\n
Suspicion between conflicting groups persists and leaflets
\nencouraging resumption of hostilities are easy to find.<\/p>\n
Security troops have cleared barricades from streets in Kei
\nBesar and Kei Kecil districts, the areas most affected by
\ncommunal clashes.<\/p>\n
A riot reinforcement battalion from the Army Strategic
\nReserves Command based in Purwakarta, West Java, has arrived in
\nthe regency. They are disarming the conflicting groups and
\nhelping in repairs to homes, mosques, churches and other
\nbuildings.<\/p>\n
Communal clashes between Muslim and Christian groups broke out
\nlate in March and spread across the regency. With 64 more bodies
\nfound on Wednesday, the death toll from religious conflict moved
\ncloser to 200. Another 200 were killed in sectarian clashes in
\nthe provincial capital of Ambon.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, President B.J. Habibie urged settlers in other
\nparts of the country and their host communities to learn each
\nother's cultures in a bid to avoid fresh communal clashes.<\/p>\n
\"Each transmigration program should provide complete
\ninformation to both sides, both to the prospective migrants and
\nto the local community,\" Habibie said when opening a two-day
\nseminar on the transmigration program.<\/p>\n
\"The local culture should become the main focus of the
\norganizers and should also be known by the migrants to be
\nresettled, so that harmony and synergy in neighborly life can
\ntake place,\" he added.<\/p>\n
He admitted there were flaws in the 50-year-old government
\nprogram which has moved millions of people from the overpopulated
\nislands of Java, Madura and Bali, but pledged to make
\nimprovements.<\/p>\n
\"The target for the development of each location for
\ntransmigration should be clear so the utilization of the natural
\nresources could be maximized by all in a harmonious cooperation.\"
\nHe added that new settlements should not become isolated
\nenclaves. (amd)<\/p>",
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