400 pedicab drivers run amok in West Jakarta

400 pedicab drivers run amok in West Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Three shophouses and a motorcycle were torched
and 12 cars badly damaged when 400 becak (pedicab) drivers
attacked a district administration office in the Artha Senter
business complex in West Jakarta Friday night.

Police said yesterday the violence on Jl. Mangga Besar IX in
Taman Sari occurred after the local pedicab drivers, including
those from neighboring Sawah Besar district, failed to find their
vehicles which the authorities had confiscated earlier in the
day.

City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman said that the
people who triggered the attack had been identified, but refused
to elaborate.

He also revealed that the police had identified infiltrators
in the unrest.

West Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Timur Pradopo, who was at
the scene, said officers had questioned four people as witnesses.

"As for possible suspects, we already have their names...
they were all pedicab drivers from Taman Sari and Sawah Besar.
But please wait for a further investigation." Timur said.

Witnesses said the drivers -- armed with metal bars, rocks and
chains -- gathered at the temporary Taman Sari district office at
about 9 p.m.

They came from Jl. Pangeran Jakarta and Jayakarta railway
station, both of which are about 100 meters away.

"Some of them were seen pedaling pedicabs with two men in
them," said eyewitness Tommy Hadi.

After failing to find their pedicabs, the mob went mad.

"They just blindly attacked the shophouses and tried to set
fire to the district office," Edi Prapto, 40, one of the shop
owners, recalled.

"Rocks were thrown," he said. "It was crazy. They smashed the
windows of my car. I tried to save the car and moved away."

District officers seemed shocked and unprepared for the
ambush. Many were seen running away to save themselves.

According to Tommy, worried residents, mostly Chinese-
Indonesians, also tried to chase away the angry mobs.

"But the pedicab drivers kept on stoning and wrecking things.

"Some people in the crowd were yelling: 'Long live Mega!
Long Live PDI!'"

Mega, the nickname of Megawati Soekarnoputri, is the leader of
the Indonesian Democratic Party faction that is unrecognized by
President Habibie's administration.

"Maybe the crowds were organized ... or maybe they were just
yelling. I'm not sure. But they did quite a bit of damage here,"
Tommy said.

About 20 minutes later police arrived at the scene and
dispersed the crowds with two warning shots.

"By the time the security officers (West Jakarta Police and
West Jakarta Military District Command) took control of the
situation, most of the crowd had escaped from the scene," Tohap
Hutabarat, one of Taman Sari's Public Order officials, said.

After attacking the Taman Sari district office, the angry
drivers headed to the nearby Glodok subdistrict administration
office located on Jl. Keadilan 2.

Here, the mob destroyed six cars and injured the Glodok
subdistrict chief, Dharmanto, who suffered minor head injuries
after being hit with a metal chain.

"But the situation here was not as bad as in Artha Senter
because nearby residents succeeded in herding the angry pedicab
drivers away," Maj. Jamal, the head of the Taman Sari police
precinct, said.

According to Tohap, the local public order staff carried out
the crackdown against pedicabs on Friday in line with orders from
the governor.

When asked to comment on the incident yesterday, Sutiyoso
expressed his regret and urged the pedicab drivers to desist from
such actions as they only made things worse.

"I have obtained information that the attackers were pedicab
drivers from the nearby Taman Sari area, not from outside
Jakarta. Well, if people said it is because of my decision this
incident happened... I will take the blame.

"I have tried to do my best. As for returning them home, the
city administration has set up a Rp 100 million fund that will
run until August," Sutiyoso told the media after attending a city
security briefing at Senayan.

At least 3,000 pedicabs have plied Jakarta streets since
Sutiyoso allowed the three-wheeled vehicles to operate in the
city again on June 24.

Sutiyoso revoked his decision six days later and announced his
determination to remove all pedicabs from the city as stipulated
in the City Ordinance No. 11/1988. (edt)