Capital returns to normal as threat of protests ends

JAKARTA (JP): The hustle and bustle of everyday life returned to the city on Monday as the tension of the recently completed 21-day General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly abated.

The usual traffic jams and crowded public buses of the capital made a reappearance as residents once again felt it safe to venture from their homes.

An elderly resident of Bidaracina subdistrict in Depok, Wirahsati, took the opportunity to visit her sick grandson in the Gondangdia area of Central Jakarta. She said she was confident there would not be clashes or demonstrations in the city after the elections of President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri last week.

"I heard about his sickness a week ago but I didn't have the courage to see my two-year-old grandson, fearing that I would be trapped in the clashes," said the 64-year-old woman.

Traffic was backed up in the central business district along Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto. Traffic congestion also was seen along Jl. Pos Kota in West Jakarta and Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Gajah Mada in Central Jakarta.

"Traffic jams everywhere show that the city is back to normal," said the head of the Jakarta History Museum in West Jakarta, Tinia Budiati.

Police officer Sgt. Paulus Prihatin said the number of cars and motorcycles on the city's main thoroughfares on Monday had risen.

"The number of vehicles here is going up, but there are still fewer than before the series of clashes and demonstrations last year," said Paulus, who was directing traffic at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Monday.

Ridwan, 24, a street sweeper in the area around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, said he was pleased not to find mountains of garbage on the street, as was the case during the Assembly's General Session.

"Protesters often threw garbage wherever they wanted. Their actions made me have to work hard," he said.

Ridwan, an employee of the City Sanitation Agency, works from 4 p.m to 8 p.m each day, earning Rp 4,300 per day.

Bus conductor S. Antonius said he was happy to see an end to the protests.

"We often had to turn around because of the student protests. It cost me a lot because we lost both passengers and fuel," Antonius, whose bus plies the Blok M-Cimone route and passes the Semanggi cloverleaf, a spot of frequent protests.

However, not everybody in the capital is pleased with the peace which seems to have fallen on the city.

"My business drops compared to during the General Session," said Syarifuddin, 16, a newspaper seller on Jl. Thamrin.

He said he sold 50 copies of various newspapers each day during the session, but now was only able to sell five copies per day.

Iwan, an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver in Slipi, West Jakarta, said: "I lost my business because people now prefer to ride on buses rather than my ojek." (ind/asa)