City administration continues 'becak' raids

City administration continues 'becak' raids

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City Administration continued to raid becak (pedicabs) on
Friday, ignoring a Central Jakarta Court verdict that the
seizures were illegal.

Pedicab drivers on Thursday won a class action against the
administration over a series of raids conducted by city
officials, Jakarta police and soldiers.

Governor Sutiyoso, who has vowed to rid the city of pedicabs
altogether, was found by the court to have committed an unlawful
act in allowing the raids to go ahead.

City Police Chief. Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara and Jakarta
Military Commander Maj. Bibit Waluyo, whose officers had assisted
the raids, were also found to have broken the law.

But Sutiyoso said the city would appeal the verdict and
ordered the raids to continue.

"The court did not order that the raids be stopped as (the
pedicab drivers) demanded," he told reporters after Friday
prayers at the City Hall.

The court found officials failed to follow proper procedures
such as giving drivers seizure letters when pedicabs were raided,
but Sutiyoso said this was not always possible.

"In fact our officials had difficulty following the procedure
as the drivers often ran away and left their pedicabs on the
street," he said.

The court rejected the drivers' other demands, such as the
closure of the City's warehouse in Cakung, North Jakarta - where
the seized pedicabs were stored - and the City's rehabilitation
center in Kedoya, West Jakarta.

Sutiyoso promised future raids would be conducted in line with
procedures.

The City Public Order officers seized 52 pedicabs in Koja,
Pademangan and Cilincing, North Jakarta, in a single night.

The lawsuit was filled by dozens of pedicab drivers, street
singers and other evicted people in October, last year. The
people was represented by eight eviction victims who acted as
ghost lawyers during the trials.