Another case of vandalism hits Tangerang village

Another case of vandalism hits Tangerang village

TANGERANG (JP): Another case of vandalism against the property
of a village head occurred on Saturday night, two days after a
similar attack in a different village.

Hundreds of Jeungjing villagers in the Cisoka district of
Tangerang ran amok and pelted stones at the house of the village
head, Tatang Supriatna. The incident began at around 11:30 p.m.
and lasted into the early hours of Sunday.

According to the villagers, the attack occurred because Tatang
refused to distribute cheap rice supplied by the government to
the poor villagers.

He instead sold most of the rice to brokers, who then sold the
rice to the villagers for Rp 2,000 per kilogram, they said.

The villagers said that each family in the village was
supposed to get 20 kilogram of rice at half that price.

"But we were only allowed to get five kilograms of rice at the
lower price," Mahruf told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"Most of the rice distributed by the State Logistics Agency
has not reached the needy people. The chief sold it to the
brokers instead. That's why we, the villagers, got angry," he
said.

Tatang could not be reached for comment.

"The village head and his family have left their home, which
was damaged by the villagers last night," Tatang's next-door
neighbor, Marta, said.

According to the head of the Tangerang police detectives,
Capt. Krisnadi, there were no fatalities during the incident.

"His (Tatang's) wife was at home when the mob pelted it with
stones, but there were no fatalities," Krisnadi said.

Dozens of police and soldiers were dispatched to the scene to
prevent any further damage.

Krisnadi urged Tangerang residents to stop committing such
acts of violence.

"If there's a problem, please report it to the authorities.
Don't just ran amok because it only inflicts losses and damage to
other people," he said.

According to Krisnadi, three similar cases of vandalism
occurred in the past two weeks in Tangerang. These incidents were
in the villages of Laksana, Mauk and Kayu Agung.

The most recent occurrence of vandalism took place in Kayu
Agung last Thursday, when some 300 villagers in the Sepatan
district ran amok and vandalized the office and house of their
village chief, Mingsar.

The mobs claimed that the chief failed to keep his promise to
improve the welfare of the local people.

Mingsar was also accused of keeping rice rations which were
intended for local poor people.

Police are, however, looking into the possibility that the
recent spate of vandalism was masterminded by certain groups of
people.

"We're still tracing the possibility that other parties are
involved, to find out whether all these cases were caused
naturally by the people's angers and frustrations," Krisnadi
said. (41/bsr)