Former East Timor refugees camp in Denpasar

Former East Timor refugees camp in Denpasar

Wahyoe Boediwardhana
Denpasar

Around 300 former refugees of Balinese descent stayed overnight
in tents at Niti Mandala square in front of the Bali governor's
office on Tuesday, demanding compensation for their property
abandoned in 1999 when East Timor broke away from Indonesia.

Protest coordinator Komang Sakrana Budi, 33, said most of
those who had migrated to East Timor in 1982 wished to be
compensated to the tune of Rp 50 million (US$6,000) per family.

"We have long complied with bureaucratic procedures, but we
were always sent from one office to another without ever being
paid," he said.

The demonstrators vowed to remain for a week. They were seen
erecting five large plastic tents sufficient to accommodate 20
people each. Among them were toddlers and the elderly.

Because of the limited capacity of the tents, the Balinese
protesters were not well sheltered from torrential rains that had
poured in Denpasar since Monday night.

They were earlier invited to a meeting that became deadlocked
so they eventually decided to continue with their protest rally.
A representative was even asked to go to Jakarta to get an
assurance on the matter, but they rejected the offer.

"We refuse to meet the governor. We want him to come to us
here and talk," said Komang.

As of Tuesday evening, the governor had not left his office to
meet the protesters, who hail from nine regencies across Bali.

Minor tension occurred when public order officers from the
Denpasar municipal administration, headed by Nyoman Brandi, tried
to disperse the crowd.

Brandi said that the former East Timor refugees had violated
Bylaw No. 3/2000 on peace and public order, asking them to remove
their tents from the square.

But after arguing with Komang, the security officers gave up
and reported the latest situation to their superiors while
awaiting further instructions.

"We're just doing our job. The important thing right now is
that we have told them that it is wrong to establish tents there.
If they ignore it, that's their own problem," warned Brandi.

But he added that there would be a possibility of physical
engagement if they were ordered to drive away the protesters
forcibly, as the protesters admitted they were prepared in the
event of a clash.

The demonstrators had with them supplies of sacks of rice,
cartons of instant noodles and mineral water sufficient to last a
week. Some were seen buying kitchen utensils such as pots, stoves
and pans.

Their only problem was potable water for cooking. They once
asked for water from employees of the governor's office but were
given only two pailsful.