Social groups set up to handle community brawls<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police will set up community groups to help
\nquash years of community hostility in areas of Central Jakarta
\nthat often break out into mass brawls.<\/p>\n
\"We have met with the informal leaders of the two area,\"
\nCentral Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira told
\nThe Jakarta Post over the weekend, referring to the Pegangsaan
\nand Menteng subdistricts.<\/p>\n
According to Abubakar, the groups will consist of 10 or more
\npeople from the disputing areas and will be assisted by some
\nofficers of the police precinct.<\/p>\n
Setting up a nearby police station is also being considered,
\nbecause brawls often happen when there is no police supervision,
\nAbubakar added.<\/p>\n
For reasons they can hardly figure out now, the residents, who
\nmostly live in shanties in the slum areas of the two subdistricts
\nhave been fighting each other for at least five years.<\/p>\n
The disputing parties, comprising one neighborhood unit
\nagainst three others, are separated by a wall and a railway line.<\/p>\n
Last month, a young man was stabbed to death in front of his
\nhouse during one of the community brawls. Fire razed four
\nshanties last Friday, allegedly started with Molotov cocktails,
\nfollowing a three-day brawl. Stones thrown during the brawl also
\ndamaged dozens of other shanties.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of police and troops were deployed around the
\ncompound to prevent another brawl.<\/p>\n
\"We now feel safer with the police and troops around,\" said
\nMamat, one of the residents.<\/p>\n
A female resident showed the Post around her decrepit and
\nvirtually inhabitable house, which is due to most of the roof
\ntiles being broken. A gaping hole in the ceiling provides no
\nprotection from sun or rain. During the fight, she said, she
\nsought refuge in her parents' house.<\/p>\n
According to Mamin, a long-time resident and a former
\ncommunity neighborhood chief, said that various reconciliation
\nattempts have been pursued, all to no avail, referring to
\nreconciliation attempts held in Puncak and the West Java town of
\nPelabuhan Ratu over the past three years.<\/p>\n
\"None of that nonsense will give positive results unless
\npeople start to think straight,\" added Aceng, a father of two
\nwhose house was burned to ashes.<\/p>\n
Many residents have lived in the vicinity for decades. Most
\nhave families and relatives living on the \"enemy\" side.<\/p>\n
Close family ties, however, do not ensure harmony.<\/p>\n
Security personnel told the Post that some residents,
\nincluding women, continue to pour fuel on the fire by booing the
\n\"enemy\" or throwing stones. (jun\/14)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/social-groups-set-up-to-handle-community-brawls-1447893297",
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