Several buses hijacked during massive strike<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Monday's mass student rally was marked by the
\nhijacking of several buses with their drivers being forced to
\ntransport protesters to the scene of the demonstration.<\/p>\n
Some of the bus drivers told The Jakarta Post that their
\nvehicles were hijacked near the campuses of, among others, the
\nUniversity of Indonesia in Salemba, Central Jakarta and Depok,
\nand the Syarief Hidayatullah State Islamic Institute in Ciputat,
\nSouth Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Some of the buses belonged to private firms Mayasari Bhakti
\nand Himpurna.<\/p>\n
A driver, Karsiman, said the students asked passengers on the
\nMayasari Bhakti bus he was driving to comply with their call for
\na national strike and threatened to force the passengers who
\ndefied the call off the vehicle.<\/p>\n
\"We were stopped by the students in front of the University of
\nIndonesia campus in Salemba as we were passing with a full load
\nof passengers. All the passengers opted to get off the bus and
\nleave it to the students,\" Karsiman said.<\/p>\n
Another driver, Burhan, said several traffic police officers
\nstopped his Himpurna bus plying the Pulogadung-Kalideres route at
\nJl. Pintu II in Kalideres, West Jakarta and ordered him to take
\nstudents and a group of other people to Merdeka Palace, where the
\nrally was being staged.<\/p>\n
He said the officers threatened to suspend the operation of
\nhis bus for 10 days if he refused.<\/p>\n
Both Karsiman and Burhan claimed they received no payment from
\nthe students.<\/p>\n
Other drivers said the students promised to pay between Rp
\n250,000 and Rp 300,000 for the use of their buses.<\/p>\n
Marihot, a Metromini bus driver, said he was stopped by
\nJakarta State University (UNJ) students when passing in front of
\ntheir campus in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A female student, he said, gave him Rp 50,000 and promised to
\npay him the full rental fee after the demonstration was over.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the students will soon leave the state palace and
\nreturn to their campus, so that we continue operating for the
\nrest of the day,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Drivers who carried students from outside the capital said
\nthey were asked by their managements to take the students to
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Students from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) rented
\n20 Limas buses, while a group of students from Bandung calling
\nthemselves Formasi chartered 15 Duta Pengarang buses.<\/p>\n
Undeterred<\/p>\n
In general, the capital was relatively unaffected by the
\nrally.<\/p>\n
It was business as usual in elementary, junior high and senior
\nhigh schools as it also was in the city's shopping and commercial
\ncenters, such as the Mangga Dua and Glodok areas of West Jakarta
\nand Blok M in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Transportation and the distribution of staple foodstuffs to
\nand from traditional markets across the capital, such as
\nKramatjati market in East Jakarta, Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta
\nand Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, continued undisturbed with
\nthe markets appearing no less crowded than usual.<\/p>\n
The city's public order office announced after an inspection
\nacross the city that about 70 percent of a total of 6,000 buses
\nwere on the road serving the public, while the rest were being
\nused by protesting students and students on their school
\nvacations.<\/p>\n
\"The predictions of some of the print media that the city
\nwould be paralyzed today have been proven wrong,\" the office's
\nhead Raya Siahaan told reporters at City Hall.<\/p>\n
He said most of the bus drivers who had previously been touted
\nas among those going to join the national strike, particularly
\nthose from the Mayasari Bhakti and Metromini companies and the
\nKWK and Wahana Kalpika cooperatives, had, in fact, reported for
\nwork as usual.<\/p>\n
No disturbances were reported at the city's major bus
\nterminals, including Senen in Central Jakarta, Pulogadung in East
\nJakarta, Kalideres in West Jakarta and Blok M in South Jakarta,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The Navy had also made 100 buses available in anticipation of
\na public transportation shortage following the student's call for
\na national strike, Navy spokesman Col. Arie Zulkarnaen said.<\/p>\n
He said the buses were standing by at Navy headquarters in
\nCilangkap, East Jakarta, the Western Fleet Command headquarters
\non Jl. Gunung Sahari in North Jakarta and the marine corps
\nheadquarters on Jl. Prapatan in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Raya also said that workers in the city's major industrial
\nestates in Pulogadung and Cakung in East Jakarta and Cengkareng
\nin West Jakarta had not heeded the strike call.<\/p>\n
But heavy traffic jams occurred along Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Jl.
\nMH. Thamrin, Jl. Veteran and Jl. Majapahit throughout most of the
\nday. (01\/jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/several-buses-hijacked-during-massive-strike-1447893297",
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