Eight injured, five arrested in Gambir clash

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of street vendors operating near the National Monument in Central Jakarta clashed with security officers who were carrying out a joint operation against traders in front of Gambir railway station on Wednesday.

At least three civilian defense (Hansip) officials identified as Teguh, Rizal and Darsono suffered stab wounds to their arms and heads in the incident which took place in broad daylight. A Central Jakarta Military District officer, Sgt. Maj. Ade Irwan, was also wounded after being hit with a stone.

The vendors claimed that five of their friends were injured in the clash, which also involved police and public order (Tramtib) officials.

Later in the day, chief of the City's data processing office Raya Siahaan said that at least four traders, identified as Abdul Hanan, Sehra and Hali, were injured during the raid and were taken to nearby Tarakan public hospital.

One of the vendors, Zainuddin, blamed the security officers' use of violence for the clash.

"They treated us harshly and even took our money without justification. We fought them to prevent the loss of the belongings that they forcibly took from us," he said.

A public order official, Ade Chandra, whose leg was hit by a bottle, said the vendors were seen brandishing sickles, machetes and knives when the security officers came.

"We stopped some 30 meters before the vendors, but one of them suddenly threw a stone that hit the head of a civil defense officer while other vendors threw bottles and other objects at us," he told The Jakarta Post.

Some of the public order officials braved the stones and other objects hurled by the vendors as they removed pushcarts and loaded them onto waiting trucks.

Dozens of Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers dispersed the protesting vendors and arrested five of them, identified as Rahman, Rifai, Erdi, Fauzi and Hendrik for possession of weapons.

Several women were seen grabbing the hands and legs of the officials when the arrest was made. Three women fell to the ground as a result.

City police chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman said 40 Brimob officers were deployed at Gambir station after receiving reports that the vendors had armed themselves.

"We needed Brimob officers in the area, since most of the vendors were armed with sharp weapons, machetes and sickles," Mulyono said.

He said the raid actually targeted the notorious hoodlums who commonly operated in Tanah Abang market, some three kilometers away from Gambir.

"Because these vendors were making too much noise, they ended up being taken away as a result," Mulyono told reporters.

City data processing official Raya Siahaan confirmed that Wednesday's operation was part of the citywide crackdown on hoodlums, who are believed to have been backing the illegal traders' businesses.

A source said the traders, mostly Madurese, paid a thug named Husen between Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million every three months for "a license" to operate in National Monument (Monas) park and its surroundings.

Protest

After the raid, some 100 vendors went to the Central Jakarta Mayoralty office, demanding the release of five of their friends and the return of their carts seized during the operation.

Zainuddin, Mulyadi, Hidayat, Jalin and Rusdi represented the vendors in a meeting with the mayoralty's legal affairs chief Dedet Ruskandar and city public order assistant Agus Salim Utut.

The vendors also demanded that the mayoralty administration allow the vendors to sell food around Gambir railway station and in Monas park.

Agus Salim said that the Central Jakarta administration had repeatedly ordered the vendors to move to the space behind the Gambir railway station that the administration had provided.

"But they opted to occupy roads and pavements along the station compound and Monas park although they knew it violated city bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order," Agus said, adding that the presence of the vendors obstructed traffic.

Over the past week, the mayoralty deployed some 380 officers to clear illegal vendors operating on the streets of Bendungan Hilir, Sudirman, MH Thamrin, Medan Merdeka Timur and along Gambir railway station and Monas park.

Those arrested will face a short trial at the mayoralty auditorium in Kebonjahe, Central Jakarta on Thursday. They could be fined Rp 50,000 for violating city bylaw No.7 11/1988. (01/ylt/jun)