Sutiyoso defends govt's civilian militia plan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso urged Jakartans on Monday not
\ncondemn out of hand the government's plan to set up a 40,000-
\nmember civilian militia to support security forces in the
\nmaintenance of law and order.<\/p>\n
The civilians would be \"selectively\" recruited under the
\nRakyat Terlatih (trained civilians) or Ratih scheme and required
\nto take a two-week advanced military training course before
\nstarting work, the governor told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"I personally feel that people in this capital should not
\nworry about it,\" Sutiyoso said.<\/p>\n
Jakartans, he added, should know that \"the city has a limited
\nnumber of security personnel to protect the entire capital,
\nparticularly for the coming general election (due in June).\"<\/p>\n
Therefore, \"as long as each member of the civilian militia can
\nproperly utilize the power given to them, Jakartans have nothing
\nto fear about the presence of Ratih,\" the governor said.<\/p>\n
He stressed Jakarta residents should not dwell on the problems
\ncaused by the presence of hundreds of untrained civilians
\nassigned to help secure last month's Special Session of the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
\"That was an experience and we learn from our experiences.
\nThere is no need to let them traumatize us,\" the governor said.<\/p>\n
He said he still had no idea about the size of the civilian
\nmilitia force to be deployed in the capital.<\/p>\n
\"We're not aware of the (central government's) arrangements
\nfor the general election here and how many people will be
\nrequired to be deployed in the city's crime black spots,\"
\nSutiyoso said.<\/p>\n
Next steps<\/p>\n
He added the city administration would eventually be informed
\nabout the government's next steps on the Ratih scheme from the
\nminister of home affairs.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces
\n(ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto insisted that ABRI was forging
\nahead with its plan to set up Ratih to secure disturbance-prone
\nareas across the country to help the police, which is
\nunderstaffed.<\/p>\n
Wiranto added that the militia would have legal legitimacy and
\nbe authorized to make arrests, handcuff those they detain and
\nreport them to the authorities.<\/p>\n
Greater Jakarta, including Bekasi, Tangerang and Depok, home
\nto about 13.3 million people, has a police force of only 18,000
\npersonnel.<\/p>\n
When contacted on Monday, Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col.
\nEdward Aritonang said the Ratih scheme was not the city police's
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
\"Don't ask me, ask the ABRI commander directly,\" Aritonang
\nsaid, referring to Gen. Wiranto.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Djadja Suparman, who was
\nasked by reporters to comment on the issue after meeting with
\nSutiyoso at the latter's office on Monday, said that Ratih was
\nstill an \"idea being worked on.\"<\/p>\n
\"Please do not try and make a big fuss over something that has
\nnot been finalized yet,\" Djadja said. (ylt\/emf)<\/p>",
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