Entrepreneurs seek government safety guarantee
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie received a strong message from the business community yesterday that the government must ensure the safety of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs and punish the perpetrators of the May riots if it wishes to see a full resumption of business activities.
Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aburizal Bakrie told the President that a comprehensive settlement to the nationwide rioting in May is essential to restoring confidence.
Aburizal said the absence of non-indigenous people, particularly Chinese-Indonesians, was seriously affecting the country's economy, especially the distribution network.
"I conveyed their (the ethnic Chinese businessmen's) request for a security guarantee (to the president) so that they can conduct their business activities in Indonesia in safety.
"And in this context, they asked for legal action to be taken against those who are guilty of rioting," Aburizal said after meeting with the President at the Bina Graha presidential office late yesterday afternoon.
Aburizal said he had held a meeting with about 100 entrepreneurs, which included businessmen of Chinese descent, prior to meeting Habibie.
He said calls for a security guarantee and a commitment to take stern action against those responsible for the riots were among the demands stressed during the earlier meeting which he later conveyed to the president.
When asked about the President's reaction to the entrepreneurs' message, Aburizal replied: "The President's reaction was of course to say that legal action will be taken."
The shooting to death of four Trisakti University students by security forces on May 12 sparked nationwide riots which culminated in the resignation of President Soeharto.
The riots claimed nearly 1,200 lives in Jakarta alone, as shops were looted and burned.
Establishments perceived to be owned by people of Chinese descent were often targeted by looters.
Women's rights group Mitra Perempuan said early last month that up to 100 Chinese women had been raped during the riots, some of whom were later killed by their assailants.
Indonesians of Chinese descent account for only 4 percent of the country's population of 202 million, but control 70 percent of the economy.
Over 70,000 Indonesians, mostly of Chinese descent, left the country from airports and seaports in Java, Bali and Sumatra, in the wake of the riots.
The prominent role of Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneurs was also recently highlighted by Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid and tycoon William Soeryadjaya, both of whom urged the thousands of Chinese-Indonesians who fled the country to return and help revive the nation.
They both acknowledged that Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneurs formed the backbone of the country's business sector and that it would be difficult to resuscitate the national economy in their absence. (prb)