Wiranto extends term of special team in Maluku<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto on
\nTuesday extended indefinitely the tour of duty of the special
\nmilitary task force sent to end months of religious clashes in
\nMaluku.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Suadi Marasabessy, who leads the team of 19 Maluku-
\nborn officers, said after meeting Wiranto here on Tuesday the
\nextension was in response to requests by the provincial
\nlegislature and Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina.<\/p>\n
Suaidi, who also is the chief of the Wirabuana Regional
\nMilitary Command overseeing the Sulawesi islands, confirmed
\nWiranto had not specified when the mission would end.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that Wiranto also reduced the number of team
\nmembers, though there were no details as to how many members
\nwould be dropped from the task force.<\/p>\n
Wiranto sent the team to Maluku on March 7 only days after he
\nfired former Maluku Police chief Col. Karyono.<\/p>\n
A brigade of reinforcement troops also were deployed to Maluku
\nin early March and another battalion of riot troops is being sent
\nto the province to quell renewed clashes in a number of areas in
\nthe remote islands<\/p>\n
Antara said last week 26 villages were destroyed and 112
\npeople killed in clashes on three islands in Southeast Maluku in
\nthe past two weeks.<\/p>\n
In addition, at least 164 people were injured in the violence,
\n783 houses were either burned or damaged and 25,000 people have
\nfled to 12 makeshift refugee centers.<\/p>\n
In total, more than 300 people have been killed in the
\nviolence between Muslims and Christians which erupted in Maluku
\nin mid-January.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that earlier on Tuesday Wiranto also met with
\nthe chief of the Udayana Regional Military Command overseeing
\nEast Timor, Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, East Timor Military Commander
\nCol. Tono Suratman and head of the ABRI Intelligence Agency Maj.
\nGen. Tyasno Sudarto, to discuss the situation in the troubled
\nterritory.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Southeast Sulawesi Governor La Ode Kaimoeddin said
\nin the capital city of Kendari that the 39,000 Maluku refugees
\nnow sheltered on Buton Island had not received any form of
\nassistance from the central government. However, six ministers
\nhave promised to provide aid, he said.<\/p>\n
\"I have met with six ministers in Jakarta. They said they were
\nready to extend aid to the refugees,\" the governor said.<\/p>\n
He said the public works minister promised to help construct
\n1,000 houses for refugees on Buton, while the state minister for
\nfood promised to provide the refugees with 500 tons of rice.<\/p>\n
The coordinating minister for people's welfare said he would
\nsend some 5,000 tons of rice and 100,000 packages of instant
\nnoodles while the forestry minister said he would provide the
\nmaterial for the construction of 1,500 houses, Kaimoeddin said.<\/p>\n
The transmigration minister, meanwhile, promised to aid some
\n500 refugee families join the government's resettlement project,
\nwhile the social services minister has yet to decide what kind of
\naid to provide, the governor said.<\/p>\n
This aid will reduce the provincial government's burden in
\naccommodating the refugees, the governor said, adding his office
\nhas pledged some Rp 200 million from the provincial budget to
\nconstruct 225 houses for refugees in the Kapontori and Betoambari
\nsubdistricts.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, AFP reported that clashes between Madurese settlers
\nand ethnic Malays and Dayaks flared up again on Tuesday in West
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
A military officer in the West Kalimantan town of Singkawang
\nwas quoted as saying the clashes erupted after a Madurese mob set
\nfire to more than a dozen Malay-owned homes in the Sungairaya
\ndistrict hamlet of Sungaikeran on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
Violent clashes pitting Madurese migrants against local Malays
\nand indigenous Dayaks erupted in mid-January following trivial
\ndisputes between individuals in the communities.<\/p>\n
The violence spread throughout the Sambas regency and resulted
\nin a campaign against Madurese settlers which resulted in at
\nleast 200 deaths.<\/p>\n
Madurese properties, including homes and farmland, also have
\nbeen destroyed in the violence, which has caused some 30,000
\nMadurese settlers to flee their villages or be evacuated by the
\nauthorities under military guard.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta on Tuesday, President B.J. Habibie approved the
\nresettlement of the Madurese refugees from Sambas regency to an
\nisland near the provincial capital of Pontianak.<\/p>\n
West Kalimantan Governor Aspar Aswin said the resettlement was
\nthe only choice for the Madurese if they wanted to stay in
\nKalimantan because it was impossible for them, at least for the
\ntime being, to return to their homes in Sambas.<\/p>\n
\"The refugees will be reminded that it is still impossible for
\nthem to return to their previous homes,\" Aspar said after meeting
\nwith the President. The meeting also was attended by the
\ngovernors of South, Central and East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Aspar said he forgot the name of the island the refugees were
\nto be sent to. He only said the island was able to accommodate at
\nleast 7,000 families. Each family will receive 1.2 hectares of
\nland and a house.<\/p>\n
\"Only 12.5 percent of the infrastructure has been completed,
\nbut the work will not be too difficult,\" Aspar said.<\/p>\n
There are two islands located near Pontianak, Teluk Pakedai
\nand Laut. (byg\/prb\/swe)<\/p>",
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